Run, Run, As Fast As You Can
by 0Kuro Tenshi0
Summary: After Jade kills her father, she tries to escape her dark past by moving to Gotham, where one more criminal won't make a difference. But when she gets accidentally involved with bigger criminals than herself, she isn't sure what to do or why she even got their attention. Can this get any worse? Joker/OC
1. Prologue

Prologue

I sat perched precariously on the edge of the building, my short copper hair dancing around me in the night breeze. It was cold, but I could barely feel it, much less the cooling crimson liquid that stuck to nearly every inch of my skin. My mind was preoccupied with the events that had just occurred less than an hour ago. I had watched my father kill my older sister, and from then on, it was a blur. I knew I had killed him. My lingering rage was evidence of that. I just didn't know what to do next.

With a shaky sigh, I leaned forward and let gravity pull me off the edge of the building as I rushed to the ground stories below. I closed my eyes and felt my body go into autopilot, my right hand reaching out to grab the railing of a fire escape. I hissed at the pain of my arm nearly being ripped out of its socket, and I swung my left arm up to grab the railing when the other almost slipped. I licked my lips out of nervous habit and winced at the taste of blood before glancing down to assure that dropping to the ground wouldn't kill me. I let go and crouched down as I landed to soften the pressure on my legs. Just the simple action brought back memories of learning how to climb from my sister.

"Start with the small stuff, kid." She had laughed and ruffled my longer hair. "You'll learn the harder stuff with time, Jade. Now, let's work on ya upper body strength now, huh?" I had groaned then, but now I looked back on the memory with gratitude. I had only been seven at the time, but now, at the tender age of thirteen, I was all alone in the world.

I walked out of the dark alley, towards the wooded area near the back of the neighborhood. Once in the comfort of their darkness, I slowed my pace until my eyes adjusted to the darkness. I relied mainly on my ears to guide me to the river, and once there, I stepped in and closed my eyes.

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**Disclaimer: I'm only gonna do one of these for this whole story, so her it goes: I don't own Batman or any of its characters besides my own OC and the plot of this little ol' fanfic. (:**

**Alrighty, I've decided to start a new story in a different fandom because I've been obsessing over the Joker for a while now, and I've gotten stuck on my other stories. So, I decided to make this really short prologue to give readers a taste of what this story might be like; if I get enough feedback, I'll continue. I'll post the prologue and the first chapter (which is why this is really short), and then I'll go from there.**


	2. Chapter 1

Ten Years Later…

I pulled the hood onto my head as I walked down the streets of Gotham. After my "incident" ten years ago, I left the loud city of Chicago and moved to Gotham. The first thing I ran into there was trouble. I had been near jumped and who-knows-what-else by a few drunkards when a boy not much older than me stepped in to help a damsel in distress.

I grudgingly accepted his hand when he offered to help me off the ground. "You didn't have to do that," I mumbled, "I could've handled them on my own."

He laughed, ruffling my hair in the painfully familiar way my sister used to. _Used to…_

I forced back the tears that threatened to fall over, realizing he had said something while I took an unwanted trip down memory lane. "Huh?" I said dumbly.

He frowned, worry creasing his brow. "I said, what's a kid like you doing in the Narrows this late at night?" he repeated.

I let my eyes wander, wondering whether or not I could trust this stranger. "It's nothing. I have to go." I said, turning to run away from the stranger.

"Hey," he grabbed my arm, but then let it go when I flinched. "At least let me walk you home. These streets aren't safe…"

His voice trailed off at the blank look on my face. "What home?" the words were barely audible to my ears, but somehow he caught them.

"Oh." He said awkwardly. "Well, at least let me—"

"No!" I nearly shouted, roughly tearing myself away from him. Once I had a grip on my emotions, I tried it again. "Thank you for your help, but I'll be fine on my own."

I turned away, but stopped at the hand on my shoulder. "At least take this."

He took my hand and put something in it, closing my fist around it. "It's not much, but you should be able to get yourself something to eat and a place to stay for the night." He took my other hand and a pen out of his pocket before writing something on it. "That's my number. Call me if you need anything."

I gazed down at the money in my hand, then at the messily written number on the other one. "Why?" I asked him just as he turned to leave.

He stopped, then looked back at me with a small smile. "You remind me of my little sister. She died last year because of something like what happened to you."

I nodded in empathy. "I'm Jade, you?"

His smile widened. "James."

After that night, I slowly began to rely on James. Over time, he grew into a brother figure, teaching me the wonders of technology. I had learned along the way that he was into shady business, but it was ok. After all, wasn't I technically a criminal too? I had killed my own father…

As I reached my destination, I brought myself back to the present and opened the door to the bank. Luckily, there weren't many people there, so I was able to quickly withdraw the amount I needed and turned to the exit. As I walked up to the glass doors, I saw a white van pull up across the street, and multiple me with colorful clown masks jumped out.

My eyes widened before I made the split decision to turn and try to run out of the back. Just as I made to the other side of the ridiculously large bank, the doors opened and gunshots were fired. I dived into the room on my right, which just so happened to be a stairwell. I ignored the shouting behind me as I let the door slam shut and went up, determined to take the fun way out. Not so long later, the door opened behind me and I cursed under my breath.

Bursting out onto the roof, I quickly scanned the area around me and cursed again when I noticed two more men with clown masks. They'd looked up from what they were doing and started towards me. I darted behind a vent as a spray of bullets hit the space I'd just preoccupied. I lunged towards the edge and gripped the it before I looked down.

Another building stood not too far from the one I currently clung to, so without much hesitation I threw my weight away from it and landed roughly on my left shoulder on the slightly shorter building. I rolled and sprang to my feet, running to the other side were there was a fire escape a few stories below. Without checking to see if the men had followed me, I jumped down onto it, climbing over the railing and falling the remaining two stories to the ground. I looked up at the roof of the building and sighed in relief when I saw that the men hadn't followed me. I turned and jogged to the end of the alley before walking calmly out and pulling my hood back over my head as I left the scene.

"James," I groaned as I entered the small apartment. A half-attempted grunt was my only reply as I flopped on the couch. "Gimme an icepack, would ya?"

A few moments later and James walked into the room, carrying a towel full of ice. I gratefully accepted it and put it on my sore shoulder. "What happened?" he asked with a raised brow.

I sighed as the coldness soothed the burning of the scrape on the back of my shoulder. I stretched my neck to look at the gaping hole in my hoodie. "Ah, dammit! Frickin' Joker…" I mumbled in irritation. "Joker decided to rob the bank. I didn't want to give up the cash I'd just taken out from the McBryan case— you know how hard that one was— so I ran out the back and jumped off the roof basically. I haven't practiced parkouring in a while." I winced.

James tutted. "I told you, you should have kept in shape. But no, someone's been a bit too lazy—" he laughed as he dodged the couch pillow I threw at him.

"Shut up, prick." I mumbled grouchily, turning my face into the cushion beneath me.

Once I had taken a shower and stole some of James's clothes, I left and went to my own apartment, which wasn't too far away.

After James had helped me learn computer genius stuff, aka: coding, then hacking, he had helped me get my first customer. It started off as basic info-gathering type of jobs, but as my abilities grew, so did the complexity of my "assignments". Eventually, I was making enough to support myself, but since I was technically still a kid at the time (I was seventeen), I had to wait to move out of James's apartment, though it was pretty much like I still lived there since I spent so much time with him.

Over the years, I had learned that he had come from a pretty well off family, but after his sister had been killed, he had stopped caring about school. He'd dropped out and started making a living as a hacker before he ran into me. I'd told him that I was an orphan because I'd killed my father, so he helped me build a new identity. I no longer went by the name of Jade; my new (fake) government name was Alex, though my handle was L3x.

The first thing I did once I got comfortable was crack open my laptop and check my email. I had three new assignment requests and one unlabeled one. Frowning, I ignored the requests and checked the unlabeled one. 'Customers know how to label their assignments, so who could this be?' I wondered to myself. Business email had a strict set of rules, and my customers knew that. Opening the email, my frown deepened when I realized that it was a video clip. It was of me jumping down from the building; then it froze on my face when I glanced back up. At the end, there was a single line of text reading, "I know who you are, _**Jade**_." With the text, there was a picture of the Joker card.

My heart dropped to the floor as I stared at the screen. Numbly, I reached for the phone, dialing James's number. "I need you here. Now." I whispered past the lump in my throat.

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**So, there's the first chapter. Let me know if I should continue this or not. See you soon. (:**


	3. Chapter 2

By the time James came through the door I had started pacing in the living room, biting my thumb nail out of nervous habit. "What's wrong?" he said, grabbing my arms and forcing me into a stop before I walked straight into him.

I let my hand fall from my face and stared up at him with a frown. "Someone claiming to be the Joker knows who I am." I said, gesturing to my laptop, which I had left on the email screen.

My mind raced over all the details over my cover. I had multiple aliases I went under, each secured tight. I was sure I had been over all the details before, cleaning up even the smallest glitch. How could anyone find me out after all these years…?

James went and sat on the couch, hitting the replay button on the clip. When it was over, he glanced back at me.

"Did you see anyone with a camera when you looked back up?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No. I checked to see if they had followed me, but I didn't see anyone."

"Have you tried tracing this? See where it came from?"

I sighed almost impatiently. "Of course, but I keep hitting a dead end."

He leaned forward on the couch, pulling the laptop closer to him with a small smirk tugging at the edge of his lips. "Leave it to me."

I rolled my eyes and sat down next to him, watching his fingers fly across the keyboard.

* * *

"Did you, ah, find her?" the masked man asked his "partner" as he returned just as the other men grabbed the bags and headed out to the van.

"No, but I got a clear picture of her." The other man said as he raised his phone in emphasis.

"Good." The first one said and raised his gun, shooting the other man in the forehead.

As the body fell to the floor, the man took the cell phone from the corpse's hand. He walked swiftly out of the bank, hopping into the passenger seat of the van. He waited until it sped off before he looked at the picture, which turned out to be a small video clip. "_Oh._" He paused the shaky clip on the image of the young woman's face and smiled beneath his mask. "_This _is, ah, _interesting_." A giggle bubbled from his lips as he took off his mask, revealing slightly smeared red and white paint.

The other men in the van shared uneasy looks, but otherwise said nothing as they continued the ride back to the hideout.

"There's been a change in plans, boys." The Joker said as he leaned his head out of the window. "Turn here."

The van's tires screeched at the sudden turn, speeding off in a new direction.

* * *

"Got it." James said with a relieved sigh, leaning back into the cushions of the couch.

I leaned forward, squinting at the screen. "Ed Holton?" I frowned at the name, noting it was vaguely familiar. I paused in thought before it hit me: "Isn't he that tech guy down on Adams?"

James frowned, trying to think of the face. "Could be. What are you going to do?" he asked with narrowed eyes as I stood and walked into my bedroom.

"Nothing serious, James. I'm just gonna pay the guy a visit." I tossed over my shoulder as I opened my closet door.

I heard him get up and stop in the doorway of the room. "No, Alex. You can't just waltz in there and expect him to give you answers. It could be a trap. What if—"

"He was working for Joker?" I interrupted him. "Then it means he wants me for something, and I'm not just going to sit here like a waiting duck and let him—"

"If you go there, you'll be going into unknown turf, idiot! I'm not going to let you get yourself killed because of your quick temper Jade!" he yelled as he grabbed my arm and tuned me to face him.

I snatched my arm out of his grasp and sneered at him. "Don't call me that. And I can do whatever I damn well please, James. I'm not a kid anymore, stop treating me like one! I'm not your sister, alright, I'll be fine!" I knew as soon as the words left my lips that they were the wrong ones.

The frown faded from his face, and a brief look of hurt crossed his eyes before he dropped his hand and took a step back. "Oh. All right." He said, his voice low and dull.

"James, I—" I reached for him, but he took another step back out of my reach before turning and leaving the room. "Wait!" I ran after him, only to be answered by the slam of the front door.

I stood there for a moment, tears building up before I turned my back to the wall and slid to the floor, burying my face in the sleeves of my arms with a choked sob. "Why am I so stupid?" I cried out to the empty apartment.

I didn't mean what I'd said. James had been the only person I had trusted since my own sister had been killed, and I feared now that I had ruined that. Slowly, I dragged myself to the bathroom and stuck my head under the cold water in the sink, rubbing harshly at my face. When my lungs burned for air, I pulled out from beneath the stream, gasping and coughing. I grabbed a towel and held it to my hot, puffy face. Somehow, I managed to make it back to my bed, and I fell into a dreamless sleep, promising myself I would go talk to him the next day, and then decide what to do about the email.

* * *

Groaning, I rolled over to the other side of the bed, my fingers digging into my scalp. "Damn migraines…" I muttered to myself as I pushed my body up into a slouched sitting position.

"They can be, ah, _quite troublesome_, huh?"

My spine snapped straight painfully fast as I turned to face the intruder in my room. His face was half concealed in the dark, making his already hellish features even more demonic. "Joker..?" the word left my lips before I could finish the thought.

"Ahhhh, _yeaaah_… who _**else**_ would I _be_?" he said, amused laughter rumbling in the back of his chest.

"Wha—what do you want?" I cleared my throat in vain, trying to get rid of the fear that seemed to be lodged there.

A devilish grin spread across his red-painted lips. "Oh, nothing much…" he said in a nonchalant tone, pretending to inspect his gloved fingernails. "Just wanted to, uh, _talk_." He froze for a second, then looked up at me, all playfulness gone from his eyes.

Before I could register what had happened, he had leapt across the room at me, grabbing me roughly by the hair before dragging me out of the room. I stomped down harshly on the scream that rose in my throat like vile, knowing that it would do no good. I grabbed onto his wrist in a vain attempt to alleviate some of the pressure from my scalp. "I _do_ have feet; I can use them to _walk_!" I spat in pain. Surprisingly, he dropped my hair, choosing instead to shove me forward onto my knees.

"And _don't _even think about running, sweetheart." He hissed in my ear when I stood. "Wouldn't want anything to, ah, _happen_ to your _**boyfriend**_."

I narrowed my eyes and glared at him over my shoulder. "He isn't my boyfriend—"

"U_huuhhh… _ Just keep walkin' sweety." He cackled.

I huffed indignantly, doing as he says and kept walking out the front door and down to the outside where a van sat in front of the building. I debated on trying to run, but if he had James already, then it would be my fault if he got hurt, and I probably would get hurt too. Joker opened one of the two back doors and I hopped inside before he could shove me in. Surprisingly, he got in behind me, and within seconds, the van drove off into the night.

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**Alright, I decided to post another chapter because I had a bit a free time (but really, I'm just procrastinating with my homework…) and I'm a bit pleased that this has been getting a lot of views, and it got its first review! (Thanks to ****Sharon Blackwood****) *happy dance* So, I'm not sure when I'll next update, but I'll try not to wait too long, especially if I get enough motivation *wink, wink, reviews, wink, wink* **

**See y'all later, **

—**0Kuro Tenshi0**


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'm not really Kuro ^^; I'm actually Horror's bride, her friend! I forced her to right this chapter :3 and I edited it since I DID force her to work when she was sleepy...**

**We went to fright fest today...**

**We had fun...**

**BYE!**

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**Chapter 3**

I sat as far away from the Joker in the van as possible, my arms crossed tightly across my chest. He was the plague and I didn't want to catch it. What would he even want with me? My mind kept searching for any reasonable answer, but I kept drawing a blank. I realized that though I knew much about Joker's reputation, I knew nothing about the man as a person. As I thought about it more, I noticed that _no one_ knew anything about him.

"Is there, ah, anything _interesting _about my face?" I jumped at the sound of his voice, not realizing that I had been staring at him for the past few minutes. I adverted my gaze, frowning and shifting my weight uncomfortably as we hit a seemingly large pothole.

"Of course not." I said, twisting my mouth to match the frown on my brows, "I was thinking."

"Hm…" I heard him shuffling around when I suddenly felt an arm pull me closer to a certain mad clown's chest. "And, ah, what would _that be _about?" he inquired softly in my ear.

I cringed at the warm air tickling my ear and leaned away. "It's nothing important." I snapped, trying to escape his grasp. Why was he so strong with one hand?

I could feel him vibrate with a deep growl before I was pulled back in, tighter this time. "_Look, __**Jade**_, I've been, ah, letting this little attitude of yours go, but I am not a man of _**patience**_."

He flicked something in front of my face, and from its glint in the moonlight, it was a knife. "I suggest you loosen up, _sweetheart._"

He traced the sharpened metal along my cheek, not enough pressure to break skin, just enough to get the warning across. I would have nodded but the idea of the knife digging any further into my skin wasn't very attractive. Before I could reply verbally, though, the van screeched to an abrupt stop, and I pulled my head back to not be jerked into the cold metal.

"Well," Joker pulled away, suddenly cheerful, "We're here!"

My finger grazed over my cheek, double checking there was no damage. Then I was pulled to my feet, and a blindfold banished light from my eyes. I opened my mouth to protest, but a gag was stuffed in it before a word was even formulated. I inwardly huffed in annoyance. As if sensing my annoyance, Joker shoved me in the back, and I almost fell trying to get out of the van. Jerk. I gritted my teeth and followed the crappy directions Joker gave me, so I could avoid any painful collisions.

Once I could no long feel the cross breeze, I knew we were inside whatever building Joker had taken us to; I was pulled to a rough stop by the back of my t-shirt, nearly chocking me in the process. "Have a _seat_." Joker said as he ripped the blindfold off of me. I looked around the room we were in: there was a maroon couch along the far wall and a small mahogany coffee table in front it. Both were worn out from over usage and time, and the once white and detailed wallpaper was turning yellow and peeling, very little remained untarnished. Patched over some blemishes were newspaper articles, the topics seemingly random, one being about some boy's death, another about some missing dog… I looked back to crazed clown; I was surprised to see that I had wandered closer to the only pieces of furniture in the room and was even more surprised to see him staring at me. It was creepy. I cleared my throat awkwardly, glancing around before my gaze settled back on the man. "Why did you bring me here?" I said, my voice more steady than I felt.

A slow grin spread across Joker's face, displaying all his yellow teeth as he got to his feet and started towards me. I was tempted to back up, but something told me it wouldn't do me any good. I stared evenly back at him, trying not to hint any emotions, but as he approached me, the feeling of unease perched upon the pit of my stomach. "You see, _Jade_, I saw your little.. escape." He started, giggling suddenly, "And I thought you were… _interesting_. I, ah, had a _feeling_ I would like you." He reached to touch my face, but I leaned out of the way, the frown returning to my face. Joker giggled again, this time more wildly.

He gave my cheek a rough pat, and stalked away from me, leaving me feeling a bit confused. "You've got a bit of, ah, _fight_ in ya." He stopped suddenly and turned to glance at me, grinning at me before going back to pacing. "You'll be working for _me_ now." My mouth parted in protest, "And, ah, _no_, you don't have a choice in this." My eyebrows furrowed, I don't like to be interrupted, but still he continued, "There are a few things I want you find out for me. " he bent over to grab some papers from the coffee table and gave them to me.

I looked through them, frowning at their content. "What do you want with Wayne Enterprises' blueprints?" I asked.

"That's for _me _to worry about, sweetheart." He grinned again.

"I have a right to know if you want me to do illegal things—"

Joker's hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing hard enough to stop me from talking. "You _already_ do illegal things, _**Jade**_." He said, his breath fanning over my face. "So it, ah, won't be a _problem_ for you to add one more thing, will it?"

I shook my head, gasping when he let go of my throat. "Consider it a _favor_." He continued, walking away from me again.

I rubbed my sore throat, glaring at his turned back. "So if I do this, you'll leave James alone?"

"James?" he feigned ignorance, turning to look back at me. "Oh, your little boyfriend? _Suuure, _he'll be fine." He waved his hand dismissively, turning again.

After a few more moments of his shuffling around, he checked his watch. "Weeellllll, sweetheart, it's been a nice chat, but it's, ah, time for you to go." He turned again, walking towards me.

I inwardly sighed, dread building in my gut. The blindfold went on again, and I was lead out of the building again.


	5. Chapter 4

**Hi, readers. I would have made this longer, but I'm pretty tired right now. I'll try to make the next one longer, but no promises. Enjoy it, review, and... stuff... *goes to bed***

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When I got back home, I fell face first onto my bed. I was exhausted, but the adrenaline still pumping through my veins wouldn't allow my eyes to stay closed for more than a few seconds in fear that when they opened again, I'd see _him_. _'How did he even get in here?'_ I thought suddenly, abruptly jumping up and running to the door, making sure I had bolted the locks shut. I didn't return to my room until I checked the back door and all the locks on every window in the apartment. With a sigh, I plopped back onto my mattress again. _'Not like it'd do any good keeping him out.' _

Then, another thought occurred to me: is James alright? I darted out of the room again and nearly pounced on the couch in search of my phone, sure that I had left it there. After turning every cushion, I turned to the mess of papers on the coffee table behind me and frowned. I knew I had left it in this room. I stood from my crouch on the floor and moved to the kitchen. With a bit of shuffling around in there, I saw it resting on top of the microwave. I hesitantly picked it up, wondering why the Joker would want to look through my phone. Realizing that I had forgotten why I was looking for it in the first place, I picked it up, unlocked it, and dialed James's number.

When he didn't answer the first time, I dialed it again, and after a long moment, he answered with a groggy, "What? It's three in the morning, Jade."

A relieved sigh escaped me, and I slouched down in the chair next to the table, letting my head fall forward onto it. "Thank God you're alright! T-the Joker, he said, I thought—" All the emotion I'd been suppressing from my encounter with Joker came rushing out the moment I opened my mouth, and a sob came tumbling out with them. I tried to form a full sentence, but James just hushed me, told me he was coming over again, and hung up.

By the time he had arrived, I had reduced my sobs to quiet sniffles, and I sat on the couch, staring blankly at the papers Joker had given me, splayed across the table in front of me and everything else save my laptop messily settled on the floor beside the table. I didn't look at him as he sat next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "I'm so sorry, James, I didn't mean what I said it was horrible and mean and Ididn'tmeananyof—" the words came rushing out again of their own accord, but James pulled me closer, shushing me.

"It's ok, Jade. Just tell me what happened." I could hear the worry in his voice.

I took a deep breath, making sure I had control again, before speaking again, more quietly, "Joker came by tonight. Wanted to… chat." I said, my voice turning bitter at the end of the sentence.

I was suddenly forced to meet James's angry grey eyes. "Did he do anything to you?" he asked, his voice low.

"No!" I nearly shouted. His eyes drifted down to my neck. "Did he do that?"

My hands went up to my throat, and I nearly wince as I remembered how they got there. "I— yes, but it's ok! He just… needed a favor?" my voice faded at the cold anger in his eyes.

James frown deepened, and he made to stand, but I grabbed his arm. "James, please don't. We both know how this will end." I stared pleadingly at him. "Please. I can't lose you too…" my voice felt strained with the tears that threatened to overflow again.

Eventually James's hard stare softened, and he slumped down beside me. I sighed in relief, but I didn't let go of his arm. I wasn't done yet. "He wanted some info on Wayne Enterprise's blueprints."

James leaned forward and picked up one of the papers. "You can't do this."

"But he said if I didn't, he'd kill you."

James shook his head, his frown returning. "I wouldn't let him. But no, that's not what I meant. Wayne has high security on his stuff; he'd know if you hacked him, and he'd trace you. You can't cover your tracks with this one." He paused, a smirk crossing his lips as he chuckled. "Funny, Wayne has better security than the GCPD."

He shook his head. "But anyway, I'll have to do this one. You don't have the right program to cover you."

I frowned. "But I thought you couldn't cover up…"

"With the right program, you can. I'll have to show you later."

With a sigh, James set back and folded his arms over his eyes. I stared at him for a moment, contemplating whether or not to voice my thoughts. "What is it?" he asked, peeking at me through an eye from under his arm.

I hesitated a bit more, thinking about my wording. "Why do you always help me out so much? It's like every time I have a problem, you fix it for me."

A slow smile spread across his face, and he laughed. "Why do you always take things so seriously? I do it because I care about you."

I frowned, leaning away from him and onto the armrest. Something about his wording bothered me, but just as it reached the tip of my tongue, a wave of fatigue hit me, forcing out a yawn. My head lolled back and James chuckled. He stood and picked me up, and I automatically curled into him, relaxing more.

He carried me into my room and laid me on my bed, pulling the cover up over my torso. I turned on my side and stared at him through half-lidded eyes. "For the record, that's not a real answer. There's something else you're not telling me…" I mumbled as I drifted off into sleep.


	6. Chapter 5

**I keep trying to go over the 2,000 word obstacle in my way, but the only way for me to stick to my outline would be to stick to about 1,500 words. *sigh* How troublesome. I didn't mean to upload this tonight, but since it was ready, I just said, "Fuck it. It's going up now." The woes of being impatient. I think I'm rambling. I don't know. I'm tired again. I'll stop yapping now. Enjoy, give feedback, and... stuff.**

* * *

When I woke up, the smell of bacon intruded on my senses and made my stomach rumble in its mighty hunger. I wiped the eye boogers out of my eyes as I stumbled out of bed. I wandered into the living room, staring at James as he typed away on his own computer and munched on a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth. I snorted at the sight, and his eyes darted over to look at me briefly. "Mornin'." He mumbled around the food hanging out of his mouth. Then he pretended to check a watch on his wrist that wasn't there. "Nope, I mean afternoon."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh shut it. You'd sleep in if you were in my shoes, too." I said as I crossed the room to get to the kitchen, staring gleefully at the mini-mountain of bacon near the stove. It was moments like this that made me thank whatever God out there that I had met James. That boy could make some bacon out of this world…

"Jade!" James yelled.

"Huh?" I blinked, realizing that I had been fantasizing about the bacon. Oops.

I grabbed a few pieces on a plate and went back to the living room, already munching on a particularly attractive piece, and sat on the couch next to James. "Were you shaying shomething?" I said around the delicious meat.

James gave me a deadpan look. "Swallow before you speak, idiot. And yes, I was talking to you." He shook his head and mumbled something under his breath. "But anyway, I got the blueprints Joker wanted you to get."

I frowned and opened my mouth, but he cut me off. "I know you wanted to do it, and I'm not trying to baby you. It's just that he's dangerous, Jade. I have my reasons, trust me."

James's eyes were begging me to believe him, but I adverted my gaze. "Which are?" I asked.

He stayed quiet for a beat. "I can't tell you."

My frown deepened, and I nearly tossed the plate onto the coffee table, suddenly losing my appetite. "Let me guess, you're trying to _protect _me?" I snapped, my temper rising.

James sighed tiredly. "Please don't start, Jade. I can't. Just _trust_ me."

I stared at him, my lips in a tight line. I wouldn't let this go. "Ok. Fine." I clipped, grabbing my computer and standing from the couch. I went into my room and closed the door.

"Jade," James said from the other side of the door, his voice muffled. "Stop acting childish."

My head snapped towards the door so quick, I thought I'd get whiplash. I'm acting childishly?! I stalked back to the door and threw it open, nearly yelling, "_I'm acting __**childish**__? _How _dare _you stand there and call me childish when you're the one keeping secrets! I— I can't believe you'd— you know what, forget it. Get out." I had been jabbing him in the shoulder with every sharp word, but with the last word, I shoved him backwards, towards the door.

"**Stop**." James grabbed me by the arms, forcing me to look at him.

I shook my head wildly, not wanting to hear another word out of his mouth. "I refuse to talk to you until you tell me the truth, James. Get out, and don't come back unless you're ready to be honest." I pried his hands off of me, pushing him again.

He stumbled a few steps backwards, standing still for a moment as he stared at me blankly. I stared back, my breath uneven as I tried to control my anger. Finally, after what felt like an entire century had passed, he turned and left. I locked the door behind him, sliding the chain in its slot as an extra precaution. I leaned against the door and sighed, feeling more tired than I had last night. Why was James being so secretive lately? Since I had told him about the Joker incident before I had even been kidnapped, he had started getting more protective, like he didn't want me to be involved with the Joker. I mean, that part is understandable, but why not tell me why? I had a feeling that there was more to this than what he was telling me…

* * *

James pulled his hood over his head and left his apartment, walking down the streets towards the edge of the Narrows where he knew a certain set of warehouses were located. The air felt dry in his mouth, and he swallowed nervously. After the short walk, James arrived at the warehouse he was looking for. He went inside, straight past the men gambling in the main room, and went up the stairs to the small set of rooms in the back of the warehouse. He turned down the last hallway and knocked on the last door at the end of the hallway.

"Come _in_." the voice inside drawled.

James pushed the door open and leaned to the side to avoid the dart coming straight for his head. The man behind the desk cackled loudly, slapping his knee. "Nice reflexes, _Jamie_-boy." Joker grinned at James from behind the desk he sat at, his feet propped up on its top and his hands toying with the remaining darts. James closed the door behind him, glancing at the board that hung there before he moved out of the way as another dart flew towards the board.

"We need to talk." James stood off to the side of the door, his arms crossed and his eyes serious.

"Straight to the point, eh?" the Joker giggled and threw another dart. "Alright… _talk_." The Joker sat back in his chair, all playfulness gone from his face.

James hesitated a moment, gathering his words before he spoke. He knew the wrong ones would get him killed. "Why did you make Jade get those blueprints when you know I could have gotten them?"

The Joker smiled again. "A bit, ah, jealous, are we?" he asked slyly, laughter bubbling up again. He threw another dart.

James gritted his teeth in irritation, knowing the other man just wanted to get him to lose his temper. "No. You know I could have done the job just as easily."

Suddenly, the Joker stopped laughing. "Ohhhh, come _on _now, Jamie-boy. I, ah, know what you're _doing_." He dropped the last dart onto the desk in front of him. "You're_ protecting her_. Why, ah, why do you _care_?" He leaned forward and laced his fingers together in a mock thoughtful position, resting his chin atop his gloved hands.

"Oh!" he jumped up, as if struck with a new idea. "You're trying to, ah, get a redo. Ya know, replace your dead sister."

James clenched his fists and held his breath in an attempt to hold in his rage. "Shut up." He said through clenched teeth.

The Joker let out a sharp bark of a laugh. "Still a, uh, sore spot, huh?"

James shook his head. "She doesn't matter. I'm here about Jade."

The Joker looked at James for a moment, studying the younger man with a peculiar look in his eye. "Let's make a deal, Jamie-boy." He said suddenly, clapping his hands and moving around his desk to walk towards James.

James stared warily at the approaching man. "What kind of deal?" he asked.

"We, ah, both _know_ about your little _history_, right? And I'm _guessing _you wouldn't want Jade to find out about it. I won't mention it to her." He grabbed James by the throat and pulled him closer, glaring at him as he spoke his next words. "And I _suggest_ you keep your _nose_ in your own _**business**_ if you want to _keep_ it, **understand**?" he hissed.

James had barely nodded when Joker released him roughly. Joker began to pace in front of him, "Jeez. You barge in here as if this whole thing is my fault. If it weren't for _you_, Jade wouldn't have to be involved." The Joker gave another cackle-laugh but then shook it off as if he had strayed off topic.

He turned abruptly to James. "It's, ah, been nice chatting with ya, Jamie-boy, but I have _things _to tend to. Don't worry, kiddo. I won't hurt your little toy." He smiled again, showing off his yellowed teeth.

James gritted his teeth but chose not to speak. Instead, he nodded and slipped out of the door, moving to close it behind him, but Joker grabbed it. "And please _do _come by if you need any more _work_."

Joker's laughter followed him out of the warehouse and onto the black streets of Gotham.

* * *

**I just remembered. The whole feedback thing is important. Let me know if I'm keeping Joker in character and stuff, and let me know if you have questions or... stuff. I kind of feel like I'm talking to myself sometimes, so feedback would be nice. Bye til next time.**


	7. Chapter 6

**I felt like fleshing out my interpretation of Joker, so I added this beginning piece as an extra in this chapter, and hopefully it will explain the relationship between James and Joker. It'll also explain why Joker is interested in Jade. The beginning part takes place about three years before the story starts. So enjoy and review!**

**Oh yeah! I would like to thank the following wonderful people for reviewing: ****thefriendlyguy63, TheShadowCat008, ****and**** ImaliAndImFabulous0218****! I was itching to update this two days ago, but I didn't have access to my computer and school wouldn't let me have any free time. I have a little more, but I'm not sure when the next time I'll be able to update will be. Anyway, you can read now.**

* * *

Joker laid sprawled across the lumpy old mattress in his current hideout, his favorite black knife in his hands. One of his older guys that had been working a few jobs here and there for the Joker hadn't been around lately. What was his name? Oh, yes— Jamie-boy. His government name was technically James, but the boy didn't seem to mind the nickname— not like he'd say anything if he did.

Jamie-boy normally came around every couple of weeks for the Joker to give him a few jobs; his field of expertise lay in computers, whereas the Joker was the strategist. When Joker couldn't get certain things he needed through blunt force, Jamie-boy seemed to know how to get them through his computers. He was a sort of consultant for Joker, and over the years, they'd gotten a sort of routine put in place.

Now, why was any of this important?

It had been a little over two months or so since Joker had heard from Jamie-boy, and he was interested in the change. Is he still alive?

His mind made up, Joker bounced up from the bed and strode into the other room where his goons lazed around. He clapped his hands once to get their attention, "Hey fellas! We have a, uh, job to do." He said with a dramatic grin.

The henchmen looked at each other in unease, not sure what this particular task will be like. Joker strode to the door, throwing it open and pointing to two men randomly to follow him before he walked out. The two men hesitantly got up and followed after their boss.

A small grey Grand Am pulled up to a certain apartment complex and cut its engine, the ones inside of it waiting. After a beat of heavy silence, one of the men spoke up, "Isn't this where that tech guy lives?"

Joker grunted in response, his eyes glued to the door of the building, so the man just took it as a yes. More silence.

"Well, what are we doing here?" the same one asked stupidly.

Joker cut his eyes in the man's direction, giving him a silent warning. The man closed his mouth.

After a few more minutes of silence, the man was about to open his mouth again but closed it again as the door to the apartment opened. James stepped outside, looking back over his shoulder. Just as the Joker was about to step out of the car, another person stepped out of the apartment after James, running a bit to catch up to him. Joker sat back, intently watching the pair.

The girl had chin-length curly red hair and light caramel skin. Her wide, almond-shaped eyes were a light brown, maybe hazel, and seemed almost unreal on her small, heart-shaped face. Their dullness stood out most to Joker.

James handed the girl a large bag, which she shouldered with little difficulty. She waved as she turned around the corner. James kept straight, watching her for a while before he crossed the street and continued on.

"Go back to the warehouse." Joker turned sharply in his seat, chewing on the inside of his scarred cheeks as he thought.

The ride back was oddly silent, neither the Joker nor the henchmen saying a word. They pulled up the warehouse and got out of the car; Joker walked around it to the door and stopped. He turned to the Henchman that had drove, the one who'd wisely not said a word throughout the whole trip, "You. I want you to, ah, figure out where that girl lives. Find out why she's with Jamie-boy. Keep tabs on her for me." He said and turned to go inside.

"What about me, boss?" the other one piped up.

The Joker paused, turning back around to face them. He gestured for the other one to go inside, his hand resting under his chin as if contemplating what to do. The first man hurried inside, leaving Joker alone with the other henchman. Joker gestured for the man to come closer, looking over his shoulder as if checking to see if they were alone. The henchman stepped closer, leaning in slightly. Joker pulled his blade from his pocket and drove it deep into the man's gut, holding him still as the blood gurgled from his mouth. "My _job_ for you," Joker whispered, "Is to be _quiet_." With the last word, he harshly tugged his blade out of the man's abdomen.

Blood sprayed over the Joker and the door behind him. He looked at it, annoyance pinching his eyebrows, and went inside.

"You."

Joker pointed to one of the other henchmen lounging about. "Go clean up that mess outside."

* * *

I continued on with my life for the next few weeks, avoiding James. I didn't know how attached I was to him until then; it was hard not talking to him. But the moment I'd almost cave and pick up the phone, a little voice in the back of my head whispered, _He's keeping secrets from you. Don't cave until he's honest with you!_ I'd sigh and drop the phone again and get back to whatever I had been doing. Strangely, I haven't heard from the Joker either, except for the one time he sent some random guy to get the blueprints he'd asked for. To keep my mind off of both him and James, I'd started training myself more, climbing buildings around my neighborhood and working my way closer to downtown Gotham. It was stress-relieving, and it was hard remembering why I'd stopped.

Now, though, I was walking down the streets downtown, looking for a specific café. I was supposed to be meeting a client there, and I was a bit behind schedule. Once I found it, I entered and picked a booth in the back— out of view from the window— and went up to the counter to order something while I waited.

"Hi." I said to the cashier and smiled, "May I get a small black coffee and a chocolate crepe, berries on the side?" I refrained from squinting as I looked at the menu as I ordered.

"Yes, ma'am. That'll be $11.15."

I also refrained from wincing at the big price as I fished out my wallet. Yes, I had more than enough to buy crepes for the rest of this year, but I preferred to spend my money wisely. And paying six dollars for a crepe was not wise.

Before I could take out the proper bills from my wallet, a voice behind me said, "Could you add another coffee to that? Cream and sugar added, please." A hand behind me reached and gave the cashier a twenty, and I turned to see whom it belonged to.

My eyebrows shot up into my hairline, and I stumbled over a response. "Oh, um, you don't have to do that, Mr. Wayne, I—"

"No, really. It was no problem." Bruce Wayne smiled, showing off his pearly whites.

He took the tray the cashier offered and turned, silently asking which table I'd like to sit at. I blinked slowly, wondering why this randomly was happening to me. I hesitantly led him to the booth I'd picked out when I'd first came in, setting my bag down behind me.

"So, what's your name?" Bruce asked as he set the tray on the table and slid in on the other side of it.

"Alex." I said. "Alex Peyton."

"Nice to meet you, Alex." Bruce said and smiled again.

I smiled back, picking up my coffee as I asked, "So what made you pay for my things?"

I blew into the hole on the lid before taking a sip, my eyes watching the stranger across the table.

"Well, you seemed like a nice person to talk to. Better to eat with company, right?" he laughed lightly, and I smiled again.

I chose a blueberry from the small bowl of colorful fruit, popping it into my mouth. "I suppose so, Mr. Wayne." I said once I had swallowed it.

"Bruce." He corrected me.

"Bruce." I nodded.

"So, what line of work are you in?" he asked.

I nearly froze, but kept chewing the piece of crepe in my mouth before I swallowed. "Computer science. I kind of freelance, build websites, you know… boring stuff." I said with a shrug, carefully watching his response. What made him ask such a question? Did he know anything? Is that why he paid for my stuff—?

My eyes wandered to the window and widened a tiny fraction. "Alex?" Bruce said, bringing my attention back towards him. "Are you all right?"

"Sorry." I laughed shortly, "I'm fine. Would you excuse me for a moment? I have to use the restroom."

He nodded, looking a bit confused, but didn't say anything. I grabbed my purse and scooted out of the booth, walking across the floor to the bathroom. Once inside, I hurriedly pulled out my cell and dialed my client. "Is something the matter?" he asked as soon as he picked up.

"I'm kind of tied up right now. Order something and meet me down the street at that little convenience store. Bruce Wayne is sitting in over in the corner, and I don't want this to get sticky."

"But—" he tried to protest.

"Just _do _it!" I snapped and hung up, walking over to the sink and staring at myself in the mirror over it. It was times like these that made me not like my "job". I sighed and splashed my face with water, patting it dry with a towel, and washing my hands.

"Sorry I took so long." I told Bruce once I sat back down at the booth.

"I was starting to think you'd climbed out the bathroom window." He joked.

I laughed, sipping my now lukewarm coffee. "Of course not. You're not that bad of company." I joked back.

We talked for another minute or so while I finished my crepe and fruit before I checked my watch.

"Oh!" I said, feigning surprise as I "noticed" the time. "I have to go; I have an appointment with a client soon."

"No problem." He responded, getting up from the table.

I grabbed my bag and my purse, throwing them over my shoulders in a rush. "It was nice meeting you, Bruce." I said, walking to the door.

"Same to you." He said. "Maybe we could meet up again sometime?"

I paused in the doorway, turning to look at him. "Maybe." I said politely.

'_I don't think so, buddy.' _I thought to myself. I nearly groaned in exasperation when he stopped me again.

"Here." He said, giving me a small card. "Call me when you have time."

I smiled and nodded before turning and walking down the street. Entering the small convenience store I'd directed my client to, I spotted him in the back near a row of refrigerators, studying two different types of liquor. I walked down one of the rows and stepped up beside him. I opened the door next to him and picked out a bottle of wine. "I've got your info." I said, handing him a skinny envelope.

He chuckled. "Took you long enough, kid. Got lost on the way here?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, ha ha, Ronald. Very funny." I said sarcastically. "But no, I had to get rid of Wayne first."

He raised his eyebrows. "What were you doing with a guy like that?"

"I dunno myself, Ronald. He just paid for my stuff while I was waiting for you and sat with me. I couldn't tell the guy to go away."

Ronald snorted. "Sounds like he was flirting with you kid. Be careful with his kind, if you catch my drift."

"I quirked my eyebrow. "Aren't _you _one of 'his kind'?" I asked.

He laughed. "Touché, smartass. Nice doing business with you kid." He said and walked up to the counter.

"Same to ya." I grinned as I got in line behind him.

After I left the convenience store I, headed back home. Thankfully, nothing too exciting happened on the way there.

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**Alrighty, guys. That's a bit longer than I thought it'd be. It's the longest chapter yet, too! *happy dance* I might not be able to update in a while, but I'll try! Review and stuff! See y'all later!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hello my wonderful readers! I'm sorry it's been a while since my last update, but this chapter has been a bitch to write. I am seriously not satisfied with it. No lie, I've rewritten it about three times. I might come back and change it later, but I knew I needed to put something up. *sigh*. Anyway, read, review, and enjoy!**

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I stretched my legs out across the love seat, yawning as I tried to work the crook out of my neck. The awkward sleeping position had made me sore. I stretched a bit more when I stood and made my way to the bathroom to take care of my business. Once I came out, I wandered to the kitchen, looking for something to eat. I fished out some noodles from the pantry and put the water on to boil. Suddenly, I heard my phone ring. I partially wanted to not answer it, but since it was my business ringtone, I figured I'd better answer it. I groaned lazily and trudged into my room to get it before the person hung up.

"Hello?" I asked when I answered it.

"_Hel__**lo **_**Jade.**" I knew before I even asked who was on the other end of the phone.

I sighed, already dreading this conversation. "What do you want, Joker?" I asked tiredly.

"Now, now, is that any way to speak to your boss?" he chided.

I rolled my eyes. "You're not my boss, Joker. What do you want?"

"Watch your mouth, Jade. I don't have much… ah… _patience_ today." He said, his voice dropping dangerously low.

"Fine. Did you need something, sir?"

He ignored my sarcastic tone, choosing instead to continue. "A little birdie told me you've been seeing Bruce Wayne. I—"

"You've been following me?" I demanded, interrupting him.

He sighed as if annoyed by the interruption. "_Yes_, but that's not important. I have a new assignment for you. Keep tabs on Wayne for me."

"But I barely know the guy; I've only met him once!" I protested.

"Well then you _get _to know him." He snapped. "Come to the docks by the warehouse tonight at 8. Don't be late."

"Which ones?" I asked, but to no avail.

The bastard had hung up. I threw the phone down angrily on the couch, but then cursed loudly and ran back into the kitchen when I smelled the now-burning pot void of water.

* * *

I called Bruce after I changed out of my pajamas and into my workout clothes. Surprisingly, he asked to meet me the next day at different restaurant downtown, which I agreed to.

By the time I'd gotten off the phone with Bruce, another hour had gone by, and I had seven more hours to go before I had to go meet Joker. I sighed, wondering how I could waste that time. There were a few more jobs I had to get done, so I supposed I'd better do them now while I had the time. I sighed again and moved to my living room, settling on the couch and cracking open my laptop.

By the time 7:30 arrived, I'd done three simple jobs and made a couple thousand dollars. I changed into jogging pants and a hoodie, knowing the night air near the docks would be trying to slowly freeze me to death. At the last moment, I decided to grab a weapon, sliding my only pocket knife into the waistband of my pants.

I made the walk in twenty six minutes, and no one else was there. The sun was just starting to set, and I was getting a bit antsy. Where was he? I paused, wondering if I should call the number Joker had given me to check if I was in the right place. But by the time I made to pull my phone out of my pocket, I heard a door slam somewhere behind me. I turned to find the source in the darkening night. My hand twitched towards the blade at my hip.

"Hello _Jade._"

Ironically, I relaxed a bit at hearing his voice. "Oh. It's just you." I said.

He stepped out of the shadows, the hellish features of his painted face emphasized by the shadows cast by the lamp post off to the side of us. A wide grin stretched across his scarred lips as he let out a loud cackle. "Just _me_?" he asked in between laughs. "You make it sound like I'm not, ah, _dangerous_."

I frowned at his mocking tone. "I know that, but you're a known threat. Unknown threats always cause more fear." I reasoned.

"More chaos." He said slowly in agreement.

His stare intensified just as it did the first time, as if I was still an unsolved puzzle he wanted to figure out. I stared back, intrigued by the way his scars stood out through the makeup. I understood that it was supposed to do that, instill more _fear _into people, but somehow I wasn't as scared as the first day all those months ago when I met him. Yes, that was stupid and dangerous, but I wondered if maybe—

No. I adverted my gaze instantly, forcing myself to stop thinking those thoughts. _'He's still dangerous,'_ I told myself._ 'He can still hurt you; he doesn't care about you.'_

Suddenly he was closer to me, closer than I felt comfortable with. I shifted my weight backwards, but nearly yelped in surprise when he grabbed my face and pulled me closer again. I refrained from squirming, but he apparently sensed my unease anyway. After another agonizingly awkward moment, he let me go and took a step back. "Do you have any weapons on you?" he asked, his tone strangely serious.

I hesitated before retrieving the knife from my waistband. I figured if he thought I was lying, he'd just search me. And judging how quick his temper was, I knew I probably wouldn't escape from that without a bruise, at the least. He took it from me, flipping it open and examining the blade before he tossed it far behind him. A second later, I heard it splash in the murky water. My jaw dropped open. "What did you do that for? That was my only one!" I said, nearly yelling.

He waved his hand. "That was, ah, _trash_. It wouldn't have done you any good in a _real_ fight." He dug around in one of his pockets and handed me an object. Another knife. "Now, that's one of my good ones, so I want it back when we're done." He said.

I blinked in confusion. "Done with what?"

He sighed in annoyed exasperation. "I'm getting there, hon. Let me _fini__**sh**_."

I shrank a bit at the change in his tone, deciding not to ask any more questions, and nodded quickly.

"I'm going to show ya how to fight. No questions!" he interrupted me, pressing his finger to my lips before I could open my mouth.

I sagged a bit. Great. This was going to be fun.

It was fun. But not for me; the Joker probably had a ball. Me, on the other hand? I was dying. There were small cuts all over my body, and I was sure there were bruises in places I'd never had them before. In short, that little "lesson" was _hell._

Joker squatted down besides my abused body and poked me harshly in the side. I could do nothing but hiss in pain, cringing away from the offending gloved finger. "Are we done yet? Please tell me we're done." I mumbled, exhaustion tugging at my conscience.

I felt myself being picked up, and I whimpered again in pain, already halfway unconscious. Before we reached the doors, I was out cold.

* * *

I woke up the next morning with a groan, my torso wrapped unprofessionally in white bandages. The cuts were definitely still there… I looked around me and almost jolted forward at the lack of familiarity around my person. Each wound was acting like an antenna that sent out signals of pain to every nerve as I sat up more slowly to better inspect the room. Now I was sure…  
This wasn't my room.

The fuck?  
There were a desk and clothes tossed around— mostly darkly colored dress shirts— The coffee colored carpet was stained with darker substances. The mattress below me was pretty stained as well, but gave off an interesting aroma… A familiar one at that. Actually, I guess I over exaggerated. This place was familiar, it just wasn't my room. It reminded of the place Joker took me to before…  
Could this be his room?  
I looked was looking the area over again when I saw a stain that was rather large…  
What was that?  
I frown in my confusion. Judging by the tinge it had, it looked like,…  
My eyes widened. "_Blood._" that voice within me said what I wouldn't. Reminding me of the full picture of Joker.

A gasp left my lips as I heard food steps rapidly approaching the closed door. In a gust of wind, pulled the covers further upon me and sealed my eyelids together as the door flew open. Those steps moved behind me before dispersing. I felt myself being forced onto my back. A profound pain antenna on my back came alive when my wait was shoved on to it. My teeth and muscles clenched in an attempt to distract me from the pain. But it didn't help. I needed to move out this position! It hurt! It hurt!  
I went to shift but was held in place. The sound of Joker's leather gloved hands constricting to hold me still rose above the sound of my grunts of effort or pain. I wasn't sure which one. It was then he spoke up "I, ah, could tell you weren't _sleeping_, doll face," He gave the grin of a cocky hunter that's seen through his prey's attempt of escape. Clenching my muscles had taken too much energy: I was left panting. I kept them quiet though; weakness before this guy was never good…  
Instead, I retorted verbally, "It was worth the effort," I abandoned my attention to my body in favor for a dry tone and an attempt to shrug. No luck on that shrug bit...  
"Uh-uh-uh," he hushed me, moving his hand up so the purple leather of his thumb could scrape annoyingly against a cut on my cheek. I huffed at his antics, "Is there something you want? Cause I have things to do," I crossed my arms over my chest. There was a flash that crossed those deep pits he had for pupils. And I knew then:  
What I said, above anything, was a mistake...  
As if to confirm my suspicions, Joker's abdomen arched forward, looming over me like a building threatening to crush my when its last support snapped. His thumb stopped just below the cut and began pressing, re-parting the skin that had begun to scab over. It stung, but I didn't notice it much. No, I was distracted by other things. "_**Jade**._" Like that demonic shift in his tone.

I could feel my breath hitch at his utterance of my name… My muscles re-tensed as if bracing for impact. "I, ah, thought I _told_ you how to," a pause, "_speak_ to me" he had a feign uncertainty to his tone. "Didn't I?" he asked, daring me to lie in his face.  
He was waiting… waiting for me to snap that last support and send his rage crashing down upon myself. My hand clutched the sheets beneath me… It was all I could do to give a shaky nod, widening the cut on my cheek.  
"So, then, why is it you won't. Listen. _To_. **_Me_**!" His tone was high and volume and dark in pitch, banishing any light within me, cursing me to shiver under his cold angry clouds. My heart got stuck in my dry throat on its way to escaping out my agape mouth. I swallowed hard to send it back down, but it was determined to stay.  
I parted my lips but nothing came out. I swallowed again, sending my heart down and forcing words out. "I-I'm Sorry," Shit. That stutter may be my death… Weakness, I was showing weakness!  
I glanced up into those unreadable dark eyes and was frozen there by their coldness. This was Joker…  
"Or is it just the surface?" the voice from earlier piped up. I fought to keep from frowning outwardly. Who was that? Before I could hide out, Joker pulled from me, regaining all his support to straighten himself. He stood to his feet and walked toward the door, "You're…_something._" he laughed insanely as he reached the door and flung it open again. He leaned on the door frame and observed me from a far. "I think I might, aha, _keep you around._ Go." he cackled again like it was some sort of inside joke.  
I sat up slowly and kept from frowning again. Really? Just…. Really?! Nevertheless, I stood to my feet like a child that just got put back in her place and was scared to get in trouble again. In a way I was. "Go on. I won't, ah, _bite_. His tongue darted out to lick at his red lips before he laughed again. Carefully, I made my way towards the door and withheld the urge to cringe away from him as I passed.  
I need to get sleep before I meet up with Bruce… I sighed. "Oh, and, ah, _Jade_," the minor shift made me freeze. "You're not finished with your training. We continue tomorrow, hm?" and with that, he closed the door.  
I left the building muttering "Alright," under my breath.

I gave a sigh to the air. Up till now, I've had a gate. It's tall and fortified and no one can get in without opening the door. Or so I thought. You see, I'd let James in after a while. But then there was joker…. Joker had broken the rules and climbed over the gate. But I'd broken the rules too, cause I had let him stay. I had gotten comfortable…  
But not again.  
Now, I was going to build a freakin' dome over it and kick him out.  
"_Just the surface~_" my mental roomie reminded me.

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**Grrr! I'm still a bit frustrated that i can't get this chapter right... Oh, well. please review; tell me how you think I did with this piece of shit.**

**EDIT: Huge huge HUGE thanks to my friend Horror's Bride for redoing the last part for me... I'm literally almost in tears I'm so happy with this now! :D**


	9. Chapter 8

** Hello, readers! I'm updating pretty quickly for no particular reason, I think.  Horror's Bride helped me edit this chapter. (I might as well give her part ownership of this...) Hmm. I have nothing else to say, so enjoy!**

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I fell down onto my couch face-first, exhausted after such an ordeal. Despite a full night of sleep, I was dead tired: my body ached and moaned from training yesterday and any sleep I got was negated by my exchange with Joker this morning. "_Joker_…"Just thinking the name made a well of emotions fill up and overflow messily outside their boundaries. I grit my teeth and boxed them up, storing them in the deepest depths of my mind for me to deal with later.

'_That won't work forever, ya know_.' The voice piped up. 'You're gonna have to deal with your feelings for him eventually.'

I ignored the voice in favor of grabbing one of the pillows to stuff under my head for a quick nap.

When I woke up, I peeked over the arm of the couch to look at the time. 4:42pm. That left me roughly fifteen minutes for a shower and fifteen to get dressed. I groaned and pulled my sore body off of the couch and trudged into the bathroom, stripping as I went.

Once in the shower, I just let the hot water run down my back while I thought. I know I didn't really care for Bruce. Yes, he was handsome and rich, but I was half-rich myself. Not as rich, but still. I could support myself for the rest of my life, and then some. I didn't care about money. And the looks… I could find that elsewhere if I ever got lonely. I just didn't like getting mixed up with rich folks downtown unless it was strictly business. I sighed, turning to face the stream of water as I started to wash myself. So why agree to this? Yes, Joker wants me to keep tabs on the guy, but that doesn't mean I have to date him. To be technical, I could just follow him, but that's a bit too much effort. I don't stalk people; it's kind of creepy.

I shook my head. Nope, I'd rather keep doing things the way I was now. I'd just have to establish the fact that I'm not interested in a relationship. With my mind made up, I stepped out of the steamy shower and toweled myself off, making my way to my room. I crossed the flooring to get to my closet, dreading trying to pick an outfit that wouldn't send any wrong signals. After about thirty tries, I settled for a cream colored sweater that was slightly off the shoulder and black dress pants. Underneath those, I wore my black boots (no heal) just in case I had to run or something. Better safe than sorry. I looked myself over in the mirror, debating the issue of makeup. I decided to forego it for just some tinted lip balm; again, didn't want to overdo it. I also put on some concealer for my cut on my cheek.

Once I was satisfied, I grabbed my bag and left, locking the door behind me. The train took only fifteen minutes to get downtown, and the walk to find the place took ten more minutes. Walking in, the first thing I noticed was that it was pretty freakin' fancy: most people were in suits and dresses. I was briefly glad I chose the dress pants over the jeans I'd been debating. Just then, Bruce spotted me from the table he had chosen and waved me over. By the time I reached him, he had pulled my chair out for me and pushed it back in once I had sat. Ooooh, plush leather…. Anyway!

"How have you been?" Bruce asked once he was settled in his seat again.

"Pretty good." I replied. "Just a bit tired from work and working out."

"You work out?" he asked, looking surprised.

"Yep." I said.

"Well, that shouldn't be a surprise. You do look amazing." He said casually.

"Thanks." I said, smiling, but then paused. Was he flirting with me?

_'Now would be a great time to tell him you're not interested in a relationship!'_ my voice popped up again.

Just as I was scolding my inner voice, the waiter came by to take our orders. I hadn't had very much experience with guys flirting with me (besides the obvious occasional sleezeball), so I'm not sure if that was a sign of interest..? I shook my head. It doesn't matter if you're not interested, I told myself.

'_Keep telling yourself that, toots._' The voice said smartly.

"What will you have, Alex?" Bruce asked, interrupting my reply to that darn voice.

I quickly scanned the menu, and then decided to pick a quick meal. "I'll have the spicy shrimp alfredo." I told the waiter and handed him my menu.

Bruce and I made small talk while we waited for our food. Surprisingly, it didn't take very long. A different waiter brought our food to our table, and the steam that slithered seductively into my nostril made both my eyes and mouth water. I gathered my utensils and dug in hungrily, not realizing that I haven't ate since the day before. I'm actually surprised my stomach hasn't growled yet."This is really good." I said after swallowing a mouthful.

Bruce made a sound of agreement, "I've been coming here for years; I thought you'd like it."

I smirked, taking a sip of water. "What makes you think you know me well enough to know what kind of food I like? I could have been allergic to pasta or something."

Bruce laughed. "Well I suppose it's a good thing you're not. You seemed like the kind of woman who likes Italian." He shrugged.

"Hm. Alright." I replied.

Most of the rest of the meal was in silence. Once we were done, Bruce paid the bill and offered to take me home. "No, that's alright. I don't need a ride." I declined politely.

"Please. I insist." He said as he walked with me outside.

"No, really. I'm fine."

"It isn't safe for a woman alone at night. Are you sure?" he asked, looking genuinely worried.

"Yes, I'll be fine. I know how to handle myself. Talk to you later?" I smiled, starting down the walkway leading to the busy street.

He sighed. "Fine. Goodbye, Alex."

I waved and rounded the corner, looking behind me before I cut into an alley. I hopped onto a closed dumpster and leapt off, grabbing a fire escape and pulling myself up. I continued to climb until I reached the roof. I ran slowly across it, jumping over protruding vents and air ducts. I leapt off the end, gripping the edge of the next building and preparing to pull myself up.

"Well, what do we have _here_?" the sudden voice nearly made me lose my grip on the edge of the building. I froze, re-gripping the tough surface.

I looked up, staring at the woman balanced on the edge of the roof on the balls of her feet. She blended in almost perfectly with the dark: a black jumpsuit, black boots, and a black mask.

She stared back, a smirk playing at the edge of her red painted lips. "I should be asking you that, lady. What the hell? I could have ran into you or something." I said, grunting as I flipped over onto the building, landing beside her.

"No, you couldn't have. I knew what I was doing. What is your name?" she said silkily.

"Alex, and you?" I looked out at the city.

"Cat."

I looked back at her. "As in Cat Woman?"

Her smirk widened and she nodded.

I thought it over for a moment. "Cool. Nice to meet you." I held out my fist.

She looked at me like I was holding detonated C4 in my palm. "You're a random by stander…" she said. I nodded as a sign of agreement and for her to continue. "I'm a renown, and dare I say, beautiful, criminal…" she continues. I rolled my eyes but nodded nonetheless. "And you want a fist bump?" she tilts her head in a display of confusion. My lips spread in a grin as I gave a nod. She laughed and bumped hers against my own anyway. "You're an okay kid. I almost kicked you off of my turf." She said, smirking at me.

I scoffed. "As if you could." I teased.

"Is that a challenge?" she purred, standing on her feet.

I stood as well. "Why of course." I grinned, stepping back off of the edge of the roof. Cat followed, circling me.

Without warning, she lunged at me. It took a breath as time seemed to slow down. They say that things click wants its put into practice. I certainly hope so…. Else I'm going to have my ass handed to me by Joker again. I grabbed her outstretched hand by the wrist and used her momentum to shove her behind me, trying to catch her ankle with my foot. _Widen your stance for support…_ At the last minute, she shifted her weight and I was suddenly flat on my back. "_Fuck_…" Cat pretended to dust her hands off. "That was quick." She said with another smirk.

I huffed and pushed myself to my feet. "You didn't even say start." I said childishly, crossing my arms with a pout.

"Never said I would," She sat with her legs bent and turned out and palms planted on the ground before her. She really reminded me of a cat. I kind of wish I was that flexible…

"Who taught you how to fight anyway? You fight like a boy." She said, laughing at my antics.

"Isn't that a good thing?" I asked, frowning in confusion.

"Are you a boy?" she raised her brow.

"No…"

"Well then no. You need a better style."

Well I guess she was right, her movements were all fluent and graceful, mine were all ugly and clean cut. I was stone, she was watcher. I wouldn't mind being water though….I sunk a bit. How could I do that with the style Joker was teaching me? Cat rested her hand on my shoulder. "I'll help you out, kid." She said with a smile. I think it was the first actual one since I met her. I smiled back. "Why would you want to help a by stander?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Cause if I'm going to allow you on my turf, you might as well help protect it, kid, and how would it look if you did it fighting like that on my turf?"

"Kid? I'm an adult, you know." I retorted in a feign offensive tone.

"Whatever, _kid_." She rolled her eyes. "Come on. We can start now if you can keep up."

And with another grin and a mocking tone, she turned and stepped off of the roof. I groaned and followed her.

I hope we're not going far… These cuts still hurt and walking/city jumping doesn't help them. I was only city jumping to avoid thugs/pervs/drunks and because it was faster…

Unfortunately….Cat led me to the other side of the DAMN city: a small cabin-like building at the start of a wooded area was what greeted us. By the time we got there, I was out of breath and tired as hell. I resisted the urge to sit down and or cuss Cat out once we entered the small building. She crossed the room and opened a small door, disappearing into its dark depths. I hesitated at the entrance. Was this a good Idea? "No, but you're going to do it anyway…" that voice decided to grace (torment) me with its opinion. Instead of responding or scolding it, I followed her in. There's no going back now, I suppose. I almost fell when I felt a dip in the floor: it was a staircase. I descended them slowly, my eyes straining to adjust to the darkness and my ears listening for Cat's nearly inaudible footsteps.

"Why are you moving so slow?" Cat called from the bottom.

"It's _dark_. I'd prefer not to fall on my face, thanks." I called back, my hand on the wall beside me for support.

"I suggest you invest in a pair of night vision goggles then." she replied smartly.

I scrunched my face up and stuck my tongue out in her general direction. "I saw that." Cat said, sounding smug. Really?

When I finally made it to the bottom, Cat lit a match. "Really?" I said, my eye twitching a bit. "You could have done that a minute ago while I was struggling down those steep-ass stairs." I grouched.

She waved me off as she lit a few more candles. "It took me a while to find them. I hardly ever have anyone else down here." She moved over to a trunk near the cabinet where she got the matches. As she dug around in it for a moment, I observed the underground area. The walls were made of concrete, but it had been painted over. It was bare of furniture, which was odd since it was so big.

"Here." Cat tossed a bundle of dark fabric at me. "Change into that. We have a lot of work to do and I wouldn't want you to dirty up your pretty clothes."

I rolled my eyes at the sarcasm, but stretched out the material so I could see what it was. My eyebrows receded to my hairline. "It's another jumpsuit." I stated.

"Yes, is it really all that surprising?" she asked with a raised brow.

"Nah." I shrugged it off after a moment. "Turn around." I added at the last moment.

She rolled her eyes but did it anyway, muttering under her breath, "Prude."

"I heard that." I retorted as I began to strip out of my clothes.

"You were meant to, darling." She tossed over her shoulder, smirking.

After I changed, I looked down at myself. "Surprisingly, this is really comfortable. Revealing, but comfortable." I commented.

The suit was similar to Cat's, but had a higher neckline. The stretchy material clung tightly to every surface of my body, showing off curves even I didn't know was there.

"Enough checking yourself out, Alex. Let's get started." She grinned, walking towards me.

Somehow, I felt that this would be worse than Joker's training. I sighed, wondering why God hated me so much.

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** That's all for now, peeps. Review and tell me your opinions: was it good or horrible? Tell me what y'all think! (And maybe I'll update quicker *wink wink*) Goodbye for now!**


	10. Chapter 9

** It has been a serious struggle to get this bitch posted. I'm drained just because of that. Like, I've been trying to post this shit for days, and I finally got it... **

**I'm sorry for that little rant, but I had to get it out. This is a bit shorter than I wanted it to be, but I wanted to get it posted, so... Yeah.**

**Read and enjoy, my lovelies!**

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By the time I was done with Cat and made it home, the sun was out, and I could feel the bags forming beneath my eyes. I stripped myself of the cat suit and tossed it in the corner for me to wash later. I half-assed debated taking a shower, but I lacked the energy to do so. I'll do it later, I told myself, before I meet the Joker again. I almost cried at the idea, not ready for another round of abuse on my body. I dragged my tired body into my room and crawled under the covers, not bothering to put on any other clothes. My eyelids glued themselves shut before my head hit the pillow, and I went into a deep slumber.

When I woke up, it was beginning to grow dark outside. I checked the clock: 7:48. I groaned and wiped the remaining drool from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand and dragged my sore body to the bathroom. I filled the tub with hot water and stripped myself of clothes before slowly stepping in the near-burning hot water. My cuts stung like hell, but I gritted my teeth and sunk in lower. I closed my eyes and sighed as my body adapted to the water's temperature. I stayed there for at least an hour, draining the water and refilling it when it became lukewarm. When I stepped out, my fingers and toes were effectively pruned, but the bruises scattered across my body weren't feeling so bad.

I got out some extra bandages from the cabinet over the sink and covered the worse cuts leftover from my training session with Joker. I got a towel from the closet next to the sink and wrapped it around me, opening the bathroom door to go to my room. I shivered slightly at the change in air temperature but crossed the short hall to my bedroom, turning the light on as I did so. I dropped the towel to the floor, crossing the room to get to my closet and pushing the door open to find some clothes.

Once I was fully dressed in some black pants and a t-shirt, I turned to the mirror on the dresser, crossing the room to stand before it. I looked at my reflection in it, not surprised by the dramatic changes that'd swam up in to the surface in just the past few days: my eyes, once bright and lustrous as honey, now stared back at me, dimmed and dulled by the dark bags sagging heavily beneath them. My face seemed a bit pale, but that was normal since I had spent most of the winter indoors, as always. My hand wandered up to touch my hair, the red strands clean and healthy; it made a sharp contrast with the rest of my appearance.

The sound of a key being turned in the front door made me freeze. I frowned, wondering who could've been there; did Joker have keys to my place? Is that how he got in the first time? I got the knife he gave me out of the pocket of my other pair of pants tossed haphazardly on the floor at the foot of my bed and crept to the door. You know, just in case it wasn't a wanted visitor. Not that Joker was a wanted visitor, but… You get the point.

I flickered my wrist, quickly releasing the blade from its confinement and poked my head out of the room. I nearly dropped my knife at the sight of him.

"Jade?" James spotted me, his grey eyes uncertain.

He closed the door behind him, turning to cross the room towards me. He looked different and the same since I last saw him. His light brown hair seemed a bit longer, and there were little tuffs of hair on his chin and upper lip as if he hadn't shaved in a week or so. He seemed like he hadn't slept in a while according to the bags under his eyes. Surprisingly, his clothes weren't as rugged as the rest of his appearance— his button down shirt and dark jeans had very few wrinkles.

I'd assume he had just come from meeting a client, but I was a bit preoccupied with my lingering anger towards him. It was hard enough to not let it go, at least until I got what I wanted from him. I resisted the urge to walk towards him, choosing instead to cross my arms. "What are you doing here, James." I demanded, my stare hardening.

He sighed, his eyes tired. "I'm sorry, Jade, I should have been honest with you earlier. I know that."

"Then why haven't you?" I asked, pushing off of the door frame and walking further into the living room. I stopped just outside of his reach. "I thought I could trust you, but not if you keep secrets from me."

He started to reach for me, but stopped himself. "I know, Jade, but…" his voice faded, and he pursed his lips, the words seemingly stuck in his throat. "I guess I knew you wouldn't trust me again if you knew."

I frowned, growing more impatient, "Knew what, James? Just spit it out." I shifted my weight, uncrossing and then crossing my arms again.

He bit his lip in thought, trying to gather his words. After another few moments of heavy silence, he spoke, "I… I used to work for Joker."

I blinked, not quite sure I heard him correct. "Work… for Joker?" my arms fell loosely to my side. I blinked again, trying and failing to process the information, "Why? W-When? Why didn't you tell me?"

I crossed over to the couch, sinking into it; James followed, sitting next to me. "I didn't tell you because I didn't think I'd ever have to be involved with the guy again. I haven't done any jobs for him in two years; I didn't think he'd start going after you. If I'd know, I—"

"You'd what, James? There's—" I snapped, feeling my temper rise. But with a sudden revelation, I froze, my eyes widening as I looked at James again. "Is that how he found me? Through you?" I leaned away from him, emotions building up by the minute. I didn't know what to think. My breath rushed out all at once, and I couldn't get enough air in quick enough to replace it.

"Jade, please." James scooted closer, tucking my hair back and cupping my face with his hands. "Breath, Jade, breath."

Once I was sure I wouldn't pass out or cry, I leaned out of James's hold. "How long did you…"

James sighed, sinking back into the couch. "I was about the age you were when I found you. Like I told you, after my baby sister died, I dropped out of school. I starting hanging out with people I shouldn't have, and eventually, I almost got caught because of them."

"Almost?" my brow raised on its own accord as I pulled my legs up to hug them.

He gave me a look, obviously not liking the interruption. I made a face, but gestured for him to continue anyway. "Yes, _almost_. It was a sour deal. I was supposed to deliver something to one of Maroni's guys, but a cop showed up instead." He continued. "Joker killed the cop that was going to take me in."

Somehow, I wasn't surprised. "Of course he did." I muttered, shaking my head a bit.

"It started off as a job to pay off the debt from him keeping me out of jail. But then, he offered me another job, and the pay was too good to pass up, at the time. I was a kid on the streets; I didn't have anything." He said in an almost pleading tone. His eyes searched mine for something, but not finding it there, he continued. "So I kept going back until I had saved up enough money to get better equipment. Then I'd started gaining other customers, but it was hard getting away from Jay. I hadn't really tried then… but when I met you…

"I thought I could slowly stop going to him. I'd started off with only going a few times a week, then a few times a month, then a few times a year… but he noticed and followed me once to see why I hadn't come in a while. It was how he found out about you." His voice got quieter as he spoke, and guilt laced his tone as he lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry, Jade. I never would have gotten you—"

I placed my hand on his arm, cutting him off. "It's alright, I think. I'm not as mad as I thought I would be. I just need some time to process it." I said, stifling a yawn. "I've been so tired lately."

Suddenly, James pulled me into a hug, nearly crushing me with his relief. "Thank you, for understanding." He murmured, burying his face into my hair.

I huffed, my lip curling into a half-smile. "I can't really judge you for working for the guy since I technically work for him too." The words still tasted bitter on my tongue, and I scowled.

James paused, pulling back to look me in the face. "He's still making you do jobs for him?"

"Yes." I said quietly, watching James closely for a reaction. "But you shouldn't be worried about it, he—"

"Shouldn't be worried? Damn right I should be worried; if something happens to you, it'll be my fault." His grip tightened on my arms as he stared at me, again searching for something and not finding it.

"No, it wouldn't." I said, not convincing myself with my own words. By the look in James's eyes, he didn't believe them either.

After a long, pregnant pause, he spoke again. "You need to leave Gotham. It's too dangerous here, _he's too dangerous_."

I shook my head, "He'll find me wherever I go, James. There's no use in running."

"You have to at least _try_…" he pleaded with me.

Silence filled the room again, growing almost unbearable until:

"Now, _now_, Jamie-boy… I thought I told you to keep your _nose_ in your own, ah… **business**."

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**I do believe that is my first cliffhanger... kukuku (that's my evil laugh). Things are about to get really, really interesting. Please review and tell me how you liked it (what was your favorite part? What do you want to see?). Your feedback will be greatly appreciated! See y'all later! :D**


	11. Chapter 10

Both James and I turned towards the door, staring as Joker strolled through it. He paused, pretending to look at a picture on the table near the door before walking into the room, not bothering to close the door behind him. "_Didn'__**t**_ I?" he asked, his stare boring into James.

James opened his mouth to reply, but I stood quickly, cutting him off. "What are you doing here?"

"Sh, sh, sweetheart, I'm trying to handle business right now." Joker said, patting my cheek and shifting me aside.

I stared, feeling my jaw drop and my temper rise at an alarming rate. "Yeah, and you just waltzed into my apartment while _we _were 'handling business', so answer me." I snarled, stepping in front of him and crossing my arms.

Joker gave a quick laugh and patted my cheek roughly. "I like your, ah, attitude, but right _now _is not the _time_, sweetheart." He started to move me out of the way again, but I stood my ground.

"Yes, it is the time. Now answer me." My hands curled into fists, nearly shaking in an effort to contain my anger.

Joker gave me an exasperated look and leaned his head forward, tilting it towards mine. My spine stiffened, not sure whether I should stay put or back away. His gloved hand went up to pat my head in rough mock-affection, and for a moment, I thought he would keep leaning in and—

My mental panic attack was cut short by his next words whispered so closely to my ear that I could feel his painted lips brush against it, "You, ah, were _late_. You had training tonight, remember?" he raised his eyebrow at me before shifting his stare behind me to James, the dark orbs flashing with something dangerous. "I see _why _now." He nearly growled.

Suddenly, he moved pass me and pulled James up off of the couch, striding to the window that had the fire escape exit. "Let's have a little chat on the roof, shall we?" he asked rhetorically, throwing his head back with a cackle so loud that it seemed to bounce off of the walls hauntingly.

He shoved the window up, pushing James out of it before climbing out himself. My heart constricted at the look of pure concentrated fear and anger written on James's face. My muscles jolted into action and I followed uselessly after them. I stuck my head out of the window, watching as Joker dragged James up the stairs. I jumped out, taking the stairs by two to catch up with them. Just as I hit the roof, I saw Joker holding onto James's shirt collar, barely keeping him from falling over the edge onto the unforgiving alley three stories below. He was saying something to him, though I couldn't tell because his back faced me and the wind snatched any wandering words that drifted my way.

"Joker!" I yelled, slowly walking up behind him.

"I think you should stay right, ah, _there._" The clown responded, the whites in his eyes seeming to glow as he looked over his shoulder at me. The black paint around them only emphasized their glow, and I repressed a shudder.

I froze, as if moving another inch would trigger an unwanted reaction, which, in a way, it technically would. "Joker…" I tried to keep my voice level, not wanting to let him get any satisfaction from my fear. "Leave him alone."

"Now, uh… why should I do _tha__**t**__?_" he stepped off of the ledge, though his grip didn't loosen up on James's shirt.

He turned his torso to face me. I thought he was smiling, but with those scars of his, I couldn't tell if it was an illusion.

'_That's the intended effect, honey.' _ The voice in my head piped up. I grit my teeth, annoyed at its bad timing.

"He didn't do anything wrong. Let him go." I retorted, crossing my arms in an attempt to hide my shaking fingers.

Joker's shoulders shook in a silent laugh, and he readjusted his arm to rest around James's shoulders. James looked as if he wanted to protest, but instead chose not to voice his opinion on the matter. "I'll be fine, Jade." He told me, "Go back downstairs."

I ignored him, choosing instead to switch my gaze to Joker, who stared back unnervingly. His tongue darted out across his red lips, poking at his scars before retreated back into his mouth. "Actually, sweetheart, he _has_ done something… _wrong_. We came to a little, ah, _agreement_ a few weeks ago… and Jamie-boy here broke it." Joker cackled, shaking James's shoulders roughly as if he had told the funniest joke of the day. "And I think. He needs. To be. **Punished.**"

And with a last tight squeeze to James's shoulders, Joker bound towards me, spinning around me to grab me from behind. A surprised noise escaped past my lips, and I squirmed to get free. He pulled me back towards him, and I stumbled painfully into him, scrambling to regain my footing. Joker's irregular breath fanned over my ear in quick pants, "And _you_, my dear, are going to do the honors."

My head jerked to the side as if I had been slapped, "W—what?" I spluttered, my eyes widening as they connected with the mad clown's dark orbs.

"Have you ever shot a gun, dollface?" He took my hand and plopped something cold in it— a gun. A heavy one too.

Joker stepped around me again and started towards James. "But Jamie-boy doesn't, ah, seem to agree with me," he tutted and shook his head, coming to a stop next to James, "You're deciding for us; who gets to die tonight?"

James looked just as shocked as I felt, but Joker continued on before either of us could interrupt, "Your job is easy: pick one of us and just, pull the trigger." Joker's voice dissolved into mad giggles, laughing at the joke only he understood and found humorous, and it took another moment for him to gather himself. The grin on his face seemed to drop. "So, _Jade_, who will you choose?"

My brows squeezed together in thought; I hesitated. How exactly was I supposed to use a gun? Of course, I'd choose to shoot Joker, but he was standing a bit too close to James for comfort. It's a risk you're going to have to take, I told myself. With a shaky breath, I raised the weapon in my clammy hands, hoping that it wouldn't slip. I pointed it at James, but, in the second before I pulled the trigger, I shifted it a bit to the left. Joker seemed to sidestep the bullet, a mock-hurt look plastered on his features. "That was pretty close there dollface, I think you need to shift it over a bit to the—"

_BANG._

The sound of it seemed to reverberate through my entire being, but with all of its mighty power, somehow Joker still managed to evade it, "Now, now, Jade—"

_BANG._

I was starting to get more and more frantic, wondering how the _hell _was it possible to dodge bullets?! I pulled the trigger again and again, but he managed to dance out of the bullets' range every time until—

He'd somehow managed to dance his way closer to me, and now he was right. Behind me. His hands wrapped around mine as I pulled the trigger one last time, and I barely heard his next words, "But, ah, _Jade?_ I _think_ you've been aiming at the **wrong** _person_."

I saw it all in a painful slow motion: Pain barely registered on James's face as he stumbled back, his hand reaching up to touch the growing blood stain on the left side of his shirt. His shoe caught on the edge of the building, and he tumbled back and out of my sight.

For a second my muscles seemed locked in place out of shock, my blood pounding so harshly in my head that I thought it'd force its way out through my eyes. Then, time suddenly caught back up and I lurched forward, tearing myself out of Joker's grip. I rushed towards the edge, leaping off and catching myself on a balcony two stories below before dropping the final story to the ground, landing roughly on the side of my foot. I ignored the pain and crashed to my knee, crawling pitifully to the still figure a few feet away. My hands shook as they touched James's hair, slick with sweat and the blood that was pooling on the ground beneath him. His grey eyes stared straight ahead, already dull and lifeless.

"Oh god, no… no, no, no…" the words sounded strange exiting my lips, as if they weren't my own. I pulled his head into my lap, my torso hunched over him as I kept mumbling, the words slurring together and rising in pitch as I became more panicked, "Nononono, god, please, no…"

Tears dripped onto his face, which was growing colder by the second, and I wiped them away as if he were the one crying. "James…" I whispered, my voice breaking.

When more wet drops fell, I realized it wasn't just my tears, but it had begun to rain as well. I didn't move for a long while, not sure what to do. It wasn't until I heard sirens growing closer that I was forced to get up, but even then I was reluctant. A part of me wanted to stay here, let the cops find me… I deserved to be punished, after all. I harshly squashed that part, kicking it to the side. James wouldn't want me to—

I cut the thought off, a fresh wave of tears threatening to force themselves out. I couldn't deal with my emotions right now; I had to get clear first. I closed James's eyes, rising to my feet after laying his head gently on the ground again. With one last glance, I turned and ran.


	12. Chapter 11

_I pushed the fuzzy blanket away from my torso and sat up, using the back of my hand to wipe away the sweat clinging to my face. It was both hot and cold, and I felt clammy and achy as if I was about to catch a cold. I could still see the last remnants of my dream glued to my eyelids, the images fading, but the screams just as loud. James appeared leaning on the door frame, sleep still dragging heavily on his eyes. "You alright?" he asked, trying to chase away the sleep by dragging his hand down his face. "I thought I heard you crying."_

_My eyes fell to my lap, embarrassment tinting my cheeks. "It's fine," I mumbled, "Just a bad dream."_

_"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, crossing the living room to sit on the couch near my blanketed feet, which I pulled to my chest as I wrapped my arms around my awkwardly bony knees."It might make you feel better."_

_"Um…" I opened my mouth to speak, but the words got clogged in my throat._

_"It's ok. You don't have to if you don't want to." James said, smiling gently at me as if I were a timid wild animal that might run off if he approached it the wrong way._

_I shook my head quickly, my small hand darting out to grab his arm before he got up again. "No, I… want to. It's just…"_

_"Difficult?" he offered. I nodded. "Was it about what happened? In Chicago?" he spoke the next words softly, carefully._

_I hesitated, biting my lip nervously, before nodding slowly. He nodded in understanding, sinking back into the cushions of the couch as he pondered over his next words. "James?" I asked, nervous about his answer to my question. He turned his head to look at me, silently telling me to go on. "Have you ever killed anyone before?" _

_He sighed as if he were expecting me to ask that and was dreading it. "Yes. I have."_

_My eyes widened, not expecting that answer. "Did you… feel anything?" I asked._

_"I… felt a little guilty. Not nearly as much as I know I should have, but…" he paused, squeezing my briefly before standing. "It gets easier with time, kiddo. Just try to move past it. Try to get some sleep, ok?"_

_"Ok." I yawned, flipping my pillow over to the cool side before settling back down._

_"Oh, and Jade?" James paused in the doorway. He turned back to look at me, and suddenly he was much older than his nineteen year old self._

_"Hm?" I sat up, looking down at myself, my brows knit tightly in confusion. How did I change clothes so fast? Where did these come from? My hair tickled the base of my neck when I turned my head to look at James again. "What…?" _

_"Try not to beat yourself up too bad over what happened with Jay, ok?" he was smiling, but it was the sad type of smiling, the kind of smile you give your loved one you knew you wouldn't see again._

_I stood as the memory of what I'd done hit me, nearly knocking me breathless as I stumbled to get off of the couch, to get closer to James. "James, I—"_

_"Shh…" he hummed as he wrapped his arms around me comfortingly. My tears stained his dark t-shirt, and I held him tightly, afraid that he'd be gone if I let go. "I know you didn't mean to. I love you, kid. I have to go now." He said and pressed his lips to my temple._

_"No, wait, don't—!" I cried, but he was gone._

* * *

My eyes felt puffy and I couldn't breathe through my nose. My clothes clung to my body like a second skin as if I had taken a dip in the river right before I fell asleep. Sitting up, I realized two things: I had fallen asleep on a random rooftop downtown, and I was soaking wet. There was a dark spot that silhouetted the shape of my body against the light concrete of the building beneath me that had dried from the previous night's rain.

A cough suddenly ripped itself from my sore throat violently, and I sunk back down onto the wet surface, unable to conjure the energy to get up.

"Alex?" a voice sounded from somewhere nearby, and I gave a groan in response.

I forced my puffy eyes open and turned my head to watch the blurry oncoming figure. Just as things melted into darkness, I felt myself being picked up, that voice nagging at my conscious, trying— to no avail— to bring me back to the world of the living…

* * *

When I woke up, I felt tired. Ironic, considering I'd just spent a good amount of time sleeping. I'm not sure how long, but I could tell it'd been too long: my muscles felt sore from lack of use and old sickness, and I could barely sit up. I forced my feet over the edge of the cot and shakily rose up into a standing position. I looked around in the dimly lit room and noticed with a start where I was. The cave-like room was still the same as the last time I was in here, only it seemed a bit warmer.

"It's about time you woke up." Cat's voice startled me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I spun on my feet to face her, but my head spun with me and I nearly lost my balance. "Careful. I was just starting to think you weren't going to wake up."

I stared dumbly at her for a moment, taking in her appearance: she wore her normal body suit, but surprisingly, she didn't have the mask on. She was pretty, full lips and almond shaped eyes, but they were easily forgettable if you didn't know specifically what you were looking for.

"I know I have a pretty face, but you don't have to stare." She said, amusement dancing across her features.

My cheeks flushed in embarrassment as I realized I had been staring. "Sorry. How long was I asleep?" I asked and winced at the sound of my voice; it was hoarse and faint, as if I hadn't used it in days.

"About three days. You hungry?"

My stomach chose that perfect moment to make itself known. My already red face turned a shade darker, probably nearly matching my hair, and I grinned and nodded. "Hehe… yeah, I guess."

Cat nodded, turned, and headed towards the stairs, and I hesitated before following after her. We went upstairs into the cabin-like house that hid the underground training area. I crossed the small space to the wooden table as she locked the door that we'd just come from. "Do you live here?"

She walked over to the cabinets, opening them to look at the canned goods. "No. I stay here sometimes, but not often. Do you prefer soup or chili?" she asked as she looked over her shoulder at me.

"Chili, if you have crackers." I said after a moment of thought.

She peeked in another cabinet, grinning when she pulled out a box of oyster crackers. She got the can of chili out, opened it, and put it in a boiler on the stove to heat up. She sat the box of crackers on the table and leaned against the counter while we waited. "So, what do you do, Alex?"

It took me a moment to realize that she'd used my alias, "Officially, I'm a hacker. But I like to do parkour."

"Interesting. I've never met a parkouring hacker before. Most hackers I know aren't even fit." Cat said with an amused smirk.

I laughed. "Yeah, well I normally don't tell many people about the parkouring bit. I just say I work out; it's a lot easier to explain. And I don't know many other hackers who're fit, to be honest, except—" my words got stopped up in my throat, held there by the growing lump of tears.

I looked over to the stove, looking for a distraction. "Are you sure you're not burning it? I think I smell it."

While Cat turned to check the chili, I swiped at my eyes, silently chanting to myself, _Don't think about it, don't think about_ him…

"Well, Cat, what do you do?" I asked, forcing him to the back of my mind.

"I'm a cat burglar, of course." She said with a sly smile over her shoulder as she got two bowls out of another cabinet.

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Well, obviously, but you must have a cover or something."

She paused and gave me another smile, "Smart. Let me guess, you have one as well?"

I nodded, opening the box of crackers as she gave me one of the bowls. "Yep. What is it?"

"It's only fair if you tell me yours first." She said as she sat across from me with her own bowl.

I shrugged, accepting this as I dumped some crackers into my chili. "I technically own a computer business, getting rid of viruses, installing protective software, stuff like that. It's a home business, of course, but it keeps my ass covered from the cops."

"I might need your help with that." Cat said with a smirk, reaching of the box of crackers. "I do office work during the day. Nothing too exciting."

"Hn." I nodded, not able to say much else with a full mouth. After a moment, I swallowed and sat back in the chair. "What, your computers acting up there? Sure, piece of cake."

We chatted a bit more until we finished with the chili. I took both of our bowls to the sink and began washing them. "You know, Cat, I don't know how to thank you. It was stupid of me to fall asleep in the rain…" I let my voice fade off, realizing I'd said too much. I didn't think I could take it if she started asking questions...

"Why were you out there, anyway? Trying to catch a child or something?" She asked jokingly, but the small smile fell from my lips at the impending question.

I could feel my face tighten as thoughts of what I'd done came surging to the surface, threatening to break me. "I-I'd rather not talk about it." I winced as my voice cracked, but I was glad I was facing the counter, turned away from her sharp eyes.

I could feel her staring at me, eyes drilling a hole into the back of my head. I swallowed uncomfortably and shifted my weight, folding the dish towel across the divide between the two sink basins before turning to face her. "Look, I…I need to get going, Cat. Thank you for watching out for me, really." I said, a small smile making its way onto my face.

"You sure? It's pretty dark out there, kind of dangerous for a woman this time of night, don't you think?" I could see the humor in her face, along with a bit of… worry?

I shrugged, making my way to the door. "Maybe, but I think I'll be fine. See you around, kay?" I opened the door, but stopped as Cat called my name.

"That isn't your real name, is it?" a sly smirk found its way onto her lips.

I blinked owlishly for a moment, thrown off, before I gave her an odd sort of smile. "No, but Cat isn't yours, either, is it?" and with that, I slipped out into the night.

* * *

**A/n: Ok, guys, I'm done with my little break from this. I knew it wasn't going to last very long, I just love this too much. I found out how I wanted this story to end, too, so I'm satisfied now. I was going to add more on here, but I'll make the next chapter long to make up for it. I don't have much else to say, so I'll see yall later. Feedback would be appreciated, thanks!**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/n: First of all, I'm really, really sorry for the long wait. I didn't have my computer, so I couldn't type this chapter, but it's finally here! Enjoy, and give me feedback, please!**

* * *

I couldn't go straight home, so I decided to go to James's apartment. Judging by the yellow tape across the door, the police had already been here. I cursed, hoping they hadn't gotten to it. I squatted down and peeled back the worn, ugly welcome mat to get to the spare key hidden there. I pulled down the tape and slipped the key into the lock. My hand froze, not wanting to turn the key and open the door. I forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat, willing myself to hold back the wave of tears. _Come on, Jade_, I told myself,_ just open the door and go straight to it!_ Almost painfully, I twisted the lock and pushed the door open, my fingers finding the light switch automatically after so many years of habit.

Everything was in order, most likely put in place after the cops had been here. I crossed the room to get to the bedroom. His door was closed, and I paused for a moment, picturing that he was behind the closed door, typing furiously as he worked on another project for a new client. I shook my head, forcing myself to stop daydreaming about things that were never going to happen again.

Breathing shakily, I pushed the door open and surveyed the room quickly, finding everything to be in place in her as well. If there wasn't tape on the door, I wouldn't have even known the police had been here. I went over to the closet and slid the doors open. Dropping to my knees, I pushed aside boxes and shoes to get to the safe all the way in the back. Pulling it out, I was surprised that it was heavier than when I'd first seen it.

"I made this lock myself." James had bragged smugly, "So if anything ever happened to me, no one could get into it, no one but you. You'll know the password when the time comes." He'd told me.

I didn't know what was in it, then or now, nor had I understood then, but it almost seemed like he knew something would happen eventually, and I'm willing to bet it started around the time Joker came into the picture. I turned the safe around so the keypad was facing me and crossed my legs. After thinking for a moment, I punched in my old social security. The little light flashed red as it beeped. I frowned and bit my lip, thinking a bit more. I typed in my birth name and it beeped again. As a final attempt, I typed in Jessica Hale, my sister's name. Oddly, the little light turn green, and I briefly wondered why James had chosen it when I shook it off and opened the lid. A bunch of papers sat on top, and when I lifted them, I nearly gasped at what laid beneath them: rows of money stacked nearly to the brim.

I took out a few bills and thumbed through them, my eyebrows rising higher when I saw they were all hundreds. I replaced the money and picked up the papers, turning them over so I could see the familiar writing:

_Jade,_

_If you're reading this, then it means I've failed at keeping you safe and I'm not there to tell you this in person. The least I can do is tell you the truth— the whole truth. So, let me start from the beginning._

_When I was younger, maybe around three or so, my mother left my father, my biological father. He was abusive, always hitting on her, but like I said, I was too little, so I don't remember much of it, or him, for that matter. But one day, he turned from her to me, and that was the last straw for my mom; she left. She took me and moved us from Chicago to Gotham. A few years later, she remarried and had my little sister._

_I don't know how much I'll end up telling you before you find this letter, so I'll just put it all here. A few years before I met you, she was attacked and killed. I kind of lost it after that; I dropped out of school and got involved with the wrong kind of people. Once, I was supposed to do a delivery for the mob, but it was a setup; a cop showed up instead. I almost went down for it, but Joker ended up killing the cop. Since he saved my ass, I started off trying to repay the debt by doing a few small jobs for him. The pay was a bit too good to pass up, so I kept going back for more work. It was fine, at least until I found you._

_After I found you, and you told me your story, I decided to look you up, just to see how much of the truth you were telling me (I could tell that it was something you weren't telling me). I found out that your father and sister were found dead in your old house, and you were missing. I thought your father's name sounded familiar, so I did a bit more digging and found that your father had three kids: you, your sister, and me. He must have met your mother sometime after my mom left him, so I guessed that his habits hadn't changed, and he was still abusive. I did a bit more snooping in your family's hospital records, and my suspicions were confirmed. So after looking at the police reports on your father's and sister's death, I put most of two and two together before you'd even told me the rest of what had happened._

I stared at the paper in shocked silence, reading and rereading the words as the pieces clicked in my mind. My father was James's father. He was my brother? He didn't resemble him, so I guess he must've resembled his mother more… I sat the papers on the floor in front of me, my mind trying to process the new information. It would have explained why he didn't want me around Joker; he'd gotten the chance to re-do what he failed to do with his other sister, but… why not tell me that we were related if he knew? I bit my lip hard, trying to hold back the fresh wave of tears as I picked up the papers.

_I know you must hate that I hadn't told you the truth, but I couldn't. Not then, at least; you weren't ready. Of course, I had to take care of you; I felt like I had to. Not because you were an obligation, but because I'd failed to take care of my sister the first time, and I'd have been damned if I let a second chance slip by. I know it sounds pretty selfish, but I won't say sorry. You were just a kid when you got here, and Gotham would have eaten you alive. I know it's odd, and you probably won't understand it, but it was a feeling I got after I found out. I knew I loved you and I wanted you safe. I don't regret what I did._

_So I changed your name and got the right documents for you to finish school. I let you stay with me until you were old enough to get your place, but even then I kept you close. I taught you what I know about computers so you could hold your own without me, just in case something happened to me. Things were fine until you told me Joker contacted you. I knew he was dangerous, so of course I tried to figure out why he was interested in you._

_Strangely enough, I kept getting dead ends. I was the one who took his info out of the system, and I kept copies of all of it just in case, but there wasn't much there in the first place. You kept pressuring me to tell you why I was getting so protective, but I couldn't tell you why unless I told you everything…_

_It's why I'm writing this now; I planned on telling you everything tonight, but this is a worst-case-scenario back-up plan. I'm sorry if I don't get to tell you everything I know, but it's important you know what you're getting into. I figured I must have failed at getting you out of Gotham, so whatever happened to me, I want you to keep living. For me, for your sister, and most importantly, for yourself. Like I said, the Joker's a dangerous man, so if you let him kill you after I'd tried to get you out, I'll bring you back to life and kill you again myself. I love you, kid. Remember that._

_James._

_(P.S— I left some money in the safe, and I want you to keep half of it. The other half, I want you to take to my mother.)_

On the back of the last sheet, he'd written his mother's address down. I blinked down at the paper, kind of confused. I'd never met the woman; hell, he'd barely ever mentioned her. So why would he want me to meet her after he was gone? I looked up at the clock on his nightstand, and, with a short mental argument with myself, I grabbed the safe and headed for the door.

* * *

James's mother lived in one of the nicer areas of Gotham. The house was a nice one, nicer than any place I'd ever lived in. It had a small lawn, white fence, and a fairly nice car parked in the driveway, meaning that someone was home. It would be a perfect picture in the dictionary for the "American Dream". Great.

I pulled at the loose thread on the sleeve of my jacket nervously as I stood at the end of the driveway, wondering if I should just send the money and the letter he'd left for her in the mail. Before I could talk myself out of it, I stalked up to the door and knocked loudly. I winced and stepped back, almost punching myself for being such an idiot. The opened a few tense moments later and an older female version of James stood inside. They shared the same grey eyes, the same brown hair, but she had a few grey hairs and faint wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and mouth that hinted at her age.

I must have been staring because she cleared her throat, "May I help you?"

I blinked and started, shifting my weight and wetting my dry lips before I spoke, "I'm sorry. Are you Mrs. Peyton, James Peyton's mother?"

Her shoulders stiffened before sagging under the weight of her lack of sleep. "Yes… the police have already been by here, and I told them—"

"Oh, no, I'm not with the police, ma'am." I interrupted her before she could close the door in my face. "I'm… was a… friend of James's." I struggled with my words, not sure if I should tell her that I was his sister. "He sent me here."

I could see the confusion on her face, but she stepped back and opened the door to let me in. She led me into the living room, and I hovered nervously before sitting on one of the couches. Mrs. Peyton sat across from me on the other couch. The next few moments were awkward silence until I reached in my purse and pulled out the envelope with her name on it and gave it to her.

"I went to his house after I'd heard what had happened." I said quietly, staring at my twisted hands in my lap. I blinked back the tears that were building, determined to not cry until I was done here. "He'd left a note telling me to give you that and this." I sat the bag on the coffee table with her half of the money.

She looked down at the envelope in her hand as she spoke, "You were close with him?" her eyes shined with the tell-tale sign of tears.

I looked away, a lump in my throat as I nodded, unable to speak. As she began to open the envelope, I stood abruptly, turning towards the door. "I'm sorry, I have to go." I mumbled, not wanting to intrude on her private moment.

Before she could stop me, I rushed towards the door, nearly slamming it behind me as I ran.

I didn't make it home before I broke down in tears. I sank onto a park bench, my chest heaving as I struggled to get air into my lungs. My sobs echoed around me, and I brought my legs up to my chest, burying my face in between them. "It isn't fair." I whispered to myself. "It isn't… fair…"


	14. Chapter 13

**I should have uploaded this weeks ago; it's been sitting in my computer since the last update. I'll try to get the next one out quicker, but no promises. Enjoy, dear readers, and give me feedback, please! **

* * *

For the next few weeks, I pretty much dropped off of the grid. I stopped doing jobs— not that I needed to since I still had enough money saved up. I hadn't bothered trying to go to James's funeral. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it. Most of the time was a complete blur: I was always asleep unless I felt like eating, which was rare. Today, however, I was torn from my dreamless sleep by the sound of someone insistently banging on my door. I dragged myself out from under the warm cocoon of my blankets and stomped grumpily to the door, past a trail of empty food cartons, loose papers, and other random trash.

"What?" I snapped, almost wishing it was the Joker so I could give him a piece of my mind.

"Open the door, Alex." A feminine voice said, muffled by the front door.

"Cat?" I blinked, confused. Without undoing the chain, I cracked the door and peeked out. There stood Cat, dressed in normal street clothes: a long sweater jacket with a pair of plain jeans. Her hair was pulled back into a simple, but neat, ponytail.

"No, it's the cookie monster." She droned sarcastically, her arms crossed over her chest.

I snorted halfheartedly and closed the door, slid the chain out of its lock, and held the door open wide enough for her to step inside.

"Geez, what the hell happened to you?" she wrinkled her nose as she stepped past me, "You look a mess and smell like you haven't so much as touched a drop of water in weeks." She turned and looked around at the mess of my apartment.

"How did you know where I live?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"You left your wallet at my place." She said, tossing said item onto the junky coffee table.

"Thanks for respecting my privacy." I said plainly, pushing aside a stack of folders as I dropped down onto the couch and pulled my legs up to hug them.

"No problem." She retorted before her expression shifted into a serious one. "Seriously. What's going on with you?"

My gaze dropped to my knees, unable to hold eye contact with her. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it? It sure as hell looks like something to worry about." Her eyes narrowed as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Why do you care?" I narrowed my eyes right back at her. "I barely know you, and you barely know me. There's nothing you could gain from getting to know me." I spat bitterly.

"I knew something was wrong when you left the last time. Whatever it is, it's getting in the way of your training, so spill it."

It was quiet for a moment as I thought it over and Cat stared at me expectantly. "What's your name?" I asked her suddenly. "Your real name?"

I could tell the question caught her by surprise, and it was a moment before she answered, "Selina. Selina Kyle."

I stared at her for a few seconds longer before I nodded, deciding she was telling the truth. I took a deep breath, the words building up on the tip of my tongue yet too terrified to actually leave the safety of my mouth. It felt as if I spoke them, then it would be true. Final.

"I accidentally killed my brother." As I said it, I could feel some of the tension disappear from my shoulders, as if talking about it had helped. At the look on Cat's—Selina's— face, I felt inclined to tell her the whole truth. I told her about how the Joker entered the story, about how James had tried to help me leave, and about how I'd accidentally… shot him. While I talked, I didn't cry. I felt as if there were no more tears left.

When I was done, we both sat in silence. Selina narrowed her eyes in thought. "So what are you going to do?" she asked.

My shoulders slumped in defeat. "What can I do? It's not like I can really do anything to get the Joker back without getting killed in the process."

"Do you want to?" she raised a brow.

"Well yeah, but… I can't." I mumbled, thinking about the letter that sat on my nightstand collecting dust. "If I die, then it would defeat the purpose of James's death, and I can't do that."

Selina sighed and folded her legs under her on the couch. "We'll figure something out. For now though, go take a shower, Alex. We're getting something to eat; you look like you're withering away as we speak."

I snorted at her and stood, going in my room to grab a change of clothes and a towel. I took a long time standing under the hot water, mulling over my options. I knew I would leave the Joker alone for good, but I didn't know _how._ He obviously knew my address, so I couldn't stay here. He probably still had someone still watching me, so it would be too obvious if I packed all of my things and left.

After I finished and dried off, I pulled on a simple black jogging suit and my favorite boots. Selina was still in the living room when I came out, sitting on the couch as she flipped through channels on the TV. She smirked when she saw me. "Well, you clean up nicely." She joked.

I rolled my eyes and went across the hall to my room. I searched under the ridiculously large piles of clothes, both dirty and clean, to get to my bag. I looked inside to make sure I had what I needed and slung it over my shoulder. When I got back into the living room, I grabbed my wallet off of the coffee table and put it in my bag as well. "I'm ready if you are." I told Cat.

"Finally." She muttered under her breath as she stood from the couch and turned off the TV. I rolled my eyes as I followed her out the door.

We ended up going to some diner just outside of the Narrows. "I'm going to have to move." I told her after we sat down at a booth away from the windows. On the way over here, I'd told her about how I was sure the Joker had someone following me.

"Of course you are." She said as she skimmed the menu.

I rolled my eyes again. "How am I supposed to find a place and move in without being followed?"

She paused and looked at me over the top of the menu, her eyes narrowed. "Is this you way of asking for help?" she asked warily

I gave her a small smile. "Well, I hadn't thought of that, but if you're offering—"

"Oh, shut it." She grumbled, but I could see the humor in her eyes as she rolled them. "I'll help you, but you'll owe me one."

"Of course!" I grinned.

"You know," Selina said after the waiter had come by and taken our orders. "You never told me your name."

Just as I opened my mouth to answer her, my phone rang from inside of my bag. I dug around for it until I found it at the bottom of my bag. "Hello?" I said as I answered it.

Selina gave me a look, and I just grinned in reply. "Alex? Are you alright?" it took me a moment to realize that it was Bruce, and the grin fell off of my face and was replaced by a wince.

"I'm fine, Bruce; I've just been busy. Family emergency, a, um, big one." I winced at the poor excuse and ignored Selina as she raised her eyebrow.

Bruce seemed to either not notice or let it slip. "Is everything alright?" he asked, concerned.

"Yes, it's fine." I said. "Hey, can I call you back in about an hour? I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"Of course." He said politely.

After I hung up, I avoided Selina's sly grin by staring intently into my glass of water. "So…" Selina said in a singsong tone.

"So nothing." I quipped, taking a sip of water.

"Oh come on!" she said, "Was that Bruce Wayne?"

"Bruce Wayne isn't the only Bruce in the city." I mumbled, feeling my ears heat up in a soon to be blush.

"So it is." She said in a tone of certainty.

I opened my mouth to reply, but luckily, the waiter chose just that moment to bring our food. I all too eagerly took a huge bite out of my burger, pretending that my mouth was too full to talk. Selina rolled her eyes in disbelief and changed the subject. "Well, then I suppose it doesn't matter about your secret love life." She said sarcastically. "However, your training does. I still haven't gotten you out on a real job, and you still have to help out." I sighed. "Yeah, I was wondering when you were going to bring that up." I paused to dab at some ketchup on the corner of my mouth with a napkin. "I might need a little bit longer since I haven't done any training whatsoever in almost a month."

"Of course you will." Cat said, smirking in amusement. "You'd probably die if I sent you out there anytime soon."

"Yeah, yeah…" I waved my hand dismissively. "When is my next training session, oh wise teacher?" I asked smartly.

"Within the next few days, I suppose." Cat said thoughtfully, probably mentally going over her schedule for the next week or so.

I nodded and placed my napkin on my empty plate. "Well if you don't mind, I have places to be, things to catch up on." I said as I reached in my bag and tossed a few bills on the table to cover my half of the bill before standing to leave.

Cat snorted and nodded. "We'll be in touch, Alex."

I paused, briefly looking back at Selina. "It's Jade." I said quietly. I could almost hear her silent grin as I left the dinner.

Every now and then, I make dumb choices. If I'm baking, I'll forget (like a ditz) to grab a towel or oven mitt before I try to take the pan out of the oven. If I know it's going to rain, I'll forget to grab my umbrella as I leave home, even if look right at it as I leave. But tonight, I think, I made an especially dumb decision. I decided that I wouldn't take a cab, and that I'd walk because it was only a few blocks away. Well, no longer than a block away from the damn diner, I heard footsteps behind me.

"Hey! Red!"

I grit my teeth at the nickname and pulled my hood up to cover up mentioned red hair, speeding up my pace. A round of laughter rose up behind me as the offender's pals laughed at his failure. With a frustrated growl, one pair of footsteps sped up, and I tensed, ready to turn and strike when a hand grabbed my arm.

"Let go of me, you piece of—" my swearing was cut off by a sharp stinging to my cheek, and I was sent sprawling to the ground.

I turned, having only a split moment to see that there were three of them before the original jerk grabbed my arm again and pulled me up to sneer in my face, "Didn't your mama teach ya any manners? Speak when your spoken to!" my face twisted in disgust and building rage as his hot, smelly breath fanned over my face and specks of spittle hit my cheek. "I'm gonna enjoy teaching you a lesson." He leered, his face showing everything he planned on doing.

Oh hell no. With a snarl, I snapped my knee up into his protruding gut as hard as I could, stunning him enough for him to loosen his grip on me. I shoved him hard on the shoulders and hooked my foot around his ankle so he'd fall when he stumbled back. Once he was on the ground, I brought my leg back and kicked him as hard as I could across the face before bringing the same foot up and stomping on his head, curses streaming out of my mouth. I didn't see his pals turn to run off, nor did I notice when the drunk was out cold.

"You stupid son of a—" a hand landed on my shoulder and pulled me away from the unconscious man.

"That's enough." A deep voice growled behind me.

My chest heaved as I struggled to take deep breaths. "He— he was g-going to—" I couldn't finish my sentence before my words dissolved into tears and my legs gave out beneath me.

Strong arms caught me, and I turned to look at my would-have-been savior, catching a glimpse of a black mask before I was picked up and cradled into a solid chest. "It's fine now; you're safe." Batman said in what I think was supposed to be comforting. "What's your address?"

I sniffed and whipped harshly at my eyes, trying to clear my mind until I was at least alone. "21407 South Hayes Street." I mumbled. I didn't bother trying to protest him carrying me there; I didn't trust my legs to carry me up the few stairs to my apartment.

Surprisingly, the drive over there wasn't all that awkward. It was odd, getting to meet the legendary Batman like this and ride in his fancy black car, but I was shocked it wasn't awkward. It was quiet, but a comfortable silence. As the car slid to a stop in front of my building, I turned to the masked vigilante. "Thanks for the ride." I said, cracking a weak, small smile.

He stared back, nodded, but didn't say anything. Weird. I mentally shrugged it off and got out, sprinting up the few steps to hurry into the building. Once inside, I went straight to my room and changed into a huge old t-shirt that I'd never remembered to give back to James a while back, before he'd—

I took a deep breath and sunk onto my bed, looking at the clock: 8:43pm. I mentally weighed my options: either return Bruce's call or do some much needed catching up on some work…

Oh what the hell, my inner Procrastinator said. I reached for the bag laying on the side of my bed and dug around for my phone. I waited for the beep of the voicemail and left a message saying that I was returning his call before I hit the end button and stared at my abused laptop staring at me from my desk where it had been collecting dust. "Oh, don't give me that look," I told it as I stood to retrieve it. "It's been a rough day. Hell, it's been a rough _month_."


	15. Chapter 14

**I know I haven't updated in, like, three months, but my current ability to access the internet is... limited. Feedback is appreciated.**

* * *

I stayed up nearly all night doing make up work, and by the time I decided to go to bed, the sun had long been up. Just as I laid my head on my pillow, my phone rang. I nearly groaned and slumped up, reaching around under the covers to get to the ringing phone. "Hello?" I said sluggishly, dragging a hand down my face.

"Good morning, Alex." Bruce greeted. "Did I wake you?" he asked, his voice going from cheerful to worried in a second.

I stifled a laugh as I checked the time. "No, I was just about to go to bed, actually."

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked sympathetically.

"Not really. I just had a lot of work to catch up on." I said, covering my mouth as I yawned.

"Oh. Then I suppose you wouldn't be willing to go to breakfast with me this morning…" he offered slyly.

This time I did laugh. "Actually, I think I might take you up on that if you're offering." I replied.

"What's your address? I'll pick you up." He said.

I hesitated for a moment, then decided it would be alright since enough people had my address already. Besides, it'd be changing soon enough anyway, so it didn't matter. I gave him my address before hanging up and getting up from the safety of my covers. I grabbed a change of clothes before heading off to the bathroom and cleaning up before he'd arrive. I was in the middle of the tedious process of trying to tame my curls when I heard a horn blow outside, so I decided to pin it back in a neat ponytail at the base of my neck before I grabbed a sweater and my bag before I left.

* * *

From the moment Bruce first saw her in that coffee shop, he knew she was different. The way she smiled at times hinted at a secret she wanted to share, and it pulled him in. When she slid into the passenger seat of his car an hour after he got off of the phone with her, the scent of her filled the car and she smiled that smile. "Good morning, Mr. Wayne." She said playfully.

He smiled in return, "Good morning, Ms. Peyton."

The first few moments were quiet as Bruce pulled away from the curb and into the thin morning traffic, but then he broke the silence. "So, what's been going on with you lately? You never really explained over the phone…" Bruce started but let the sentence trail off, unsure if it was too personal. After all, she had been mugged the day before…

She turned her head to stare out of the window at the city before she answered, her red curls falling to shield her face from him in a red curtain. "To be honest," she spoke softly, almost too quiet for him to hear, "I don't really remember. My… my brother was killed a few weeks ago, and things after that have pretty much been a blur."

Wordlessly, Bruce's mouth fell open and clamped closed, unsure what to say. His brows creased as he mulled it over. "Do the police know who did it?" he asked carefully.

He barely missed the tiny shrug of her shoulders, which, now that he looked closer, did look a lot frailer than the last time he saw her. "I don't know… I haven't talked to his mother since I found out. I don't think I could handle—" she cut herself off before suddenly turning back to face Bruce. "Can we change the topic, please? I just don't—"

"It's fine, Alex, I understand." He interrupted her with a sympathetic look as he slowed the car to a stop at a red light. "Are you sure you're alright with going to breakfast? I can take you back home if you want." He turned to look her in the face carefully, watching as a smile curled on her lips that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"No, I'm fine, Bruce. You don't have to waste gas taking me back; we might as well continue." She said, but moments later, a low rumble filled the space of the car.

Bruce laughed once he recognized the sound, a smirk tugging at his lips. "So that's why you want to continue?" he teased, laughing even more when her face flushed a red that nearly matched her hair.

"Wha— n-no!" she fumbled over her embarrassment, "I just haven't seen you in a while and didn't want to pass up the chance…" she mumbled, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"So you wanted to see me?" he asked slyly, a genuine smile crossing his face as he risked a glance at her.

She looked almost surprised as she pondered her own words before she dipped her head down so her hair covered her face again. "I didn't say that!" she said indignantly, and Bruce laughed again.

* * *

Most of the rest of the car ride was in silence, which, thankfully, wasn't awkward or long, and before long, we pulled up to a restaurant. A slight frown creased my eyebrows ass my thoughts mulled over the conversation I'd had with Bruce. Is it true that I actually did want to see him? The only reason I'd had to continue seeing him at first was to "keep tabs on him" for the Joker, but just the thought of that man sent a cold shiver of fury to roll through my system. So now that I didn't have any obligations to the man, why did I still keep in contact? I admit, he wasn't as bad as I originally thought, but still…

Once we were seated inside the restaurant, I stared down at the menu, my mouth watering at the tempting-looking options. "Have any idea what you're getting?" Bruce asked, bringing me out of my fantasy of the enticing plate of bacon staring at me from the menu's glossy page.

"I don't know, but I'm getting the largest amount of this bacon here with whatever I get." I said, giving the image of the juicy-looking bacon a loving tap. Bruce laughed in response, even though I was only half-joking. That bacon really was calling my name.

After the waiter had stopped by to take our order, Bruce and I made small talk as we waited for our food. "So, do you have any plans for this Saturday?" Bruce asked casually.

"Not yet, no. Why do you ask?" I replied as I took a sip from my glass of water.

"I'm having a fundraiser for Harvey Dent, and I would like it if you came." He said. "I know it's a bit of a short notice, but I couldn't get in contact with you before…" his voice trailed off and I reached across the table to touch his hand, smiling softly.

"It's alright." I said. "I think I can come, but I'll have to get back to you later because—" my response was cut off by the loud noise of my phone's ringtone, and I jumped slightly before digging in my purse to answer it.

Seeing that it was Cat, I mouthed the words _excuse me _to Bruce before standing and walking to the ladies' room as I answered, "Hello?"

"Where are you?" she demanded.

"Um, out…?" I questioned, not sure if it was the right answer.

Apparently, it wasn't, because Cat's voice rose in volume. "Out? You need to be here for training!"

I grimaced. "But you said within the next _few_ days, not the next day. I'm kind of busy right now." I complained.

"What's so important that you can't be here?" she asked smartly, and I could see her standing at my front door with her hand on her hip as she scowled at her phone.

I stammered for a moment, wondering whether it'd be safer to tell the truth or make up a lie. I decided on the latter. "I do have a job, you know." I said.

"But that's not what you're doing right now, is it?" I could hear the deadpan in her voice, and my mouth fell open again before I snapped it closed and sighed in defeat.

"No, I'm not. Look, I'll call you back in an hour, and we can train after that." I said in a hurriedly.

"Wait, what are you—?" she started, but I cut her off.

"I'll tell you when I see you, bye!" I said quickly and hung up, leaning against the sink with a heavy sigh. A few moments later, I left the bathroom and rejoined Bruce.

I smiled when I saw that our food had arrived. "You didn't have to wait for me." I said.

He smiled back. "It's fine; the food came just a few minutes ago."

We were mostly quiet as we ate, and it was only when the bill came that a problem arose. I reached for the little leather book that the waiter had sat on the table, but Bruce grabbed it before I did. "Hey, I can pay for my half of the bill." I said, holding out my hand for the check.

He waved me off and slipped a card inside, presumably a credit card of some sort. "It's alright; I've got it." He said. I opened my mouth to protest, but he silenced me with a look. My mouth twisted into a frown, but I kept quiet.

The ride back to my apartment was mostly silent, and I texted Cat to ask if she still wanted to train. By the time I got a response, we had pulled in front of the building, and Bruce had come around to open the passenger door.

"Oops." I said, giving a lopsided smile. "That ride went by quickly." I said as I laughed sheepishly.

He walked me to the front door, and I turned to give him a sly look as I put the key in the lock. "Trying to follow me inside, ne?" I said, snickering as his eyes widened and he fumbled for a response.

"No, I was just—" I put a hand on his arm to stop him as I laughed.

"It's fine, I was just teasing." I said, my voice trailing off as I noticed how close he was.

"You have such a beautiful smile." He murmured, tucking a rebellious red curl behind my ear as he leaned closer. My eyes widened as I realized what was about to happen, but by the time the thought to move crossed my mind, his lips were already pressed into mine.

I stiffened, not quite sure what to do. His arms slid around my waist and pulled me closer, and I forced myself to relax before planting my hands firmly on his shoulders and pushing away. "I-I'm sorry, I should get inside…" I stammered as I took a step back and started fumbling with the lock again.

"Alex." He put a hand on my shoulder and I paused. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you; I crossed a line."

I gave him a weak smile. "No, no, it's fine, I just—" The door clicked as the lock finally decided to work, and I twisted the knob and opened it. "I'll call you later!" I said and ducked inside, leaving a confused Bruce on my doorstep.

Once in the safety of my apartment, I sighed as I locked the door behind me and let my head fall forward to collide with it loudly, muttering curses under my breath_. 'Well. I know I'm not going to that darn fundraiser now.'_ I thought to myself as I dragged myself across the room to the kitchen. Still mentally scolding myself over my idiocy, I sat my bag and keys down on the counter and opened the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water.

"Had a nice _date_ with lover boy, **sweetheart**?"

I nearly hit my head on the freezer door and I jerked back and spun on my heel, glaring as I met Joker's dark eyes. He leaned casually against the doorframe leading back to the living room and the rest of the apartment.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I spat, my voice almost a growl.

"Aw…" he pretended to pout as he strode towards me. I took a step back but was cornered as my back smacked painfully into the counter. "You didn't miss me?" he reached up to touch my face, but I smacked his hand away.

"Don't touch me." My voice was barely above a whisper, and it shook with raw anger.

"Now, now, _Jade_—" he started, but the sound of a knock on the door interrupted him. He sighed impatiently before grabbing me by the upper arm and pulling me closer. "You need to be at that fundraiser, toots." He put a gloved finger to my mouth when I opened it to protest, but I smacked it away. His hand snaked out and grabbed my wrist, squeezing it with nearly bone-breaking force.

I opened my mouth to make a smart retort, trying not to wince at his grip on my wrist as I pulled to snatch away from him, but the sound of more knocking on the door interrupted me. "Just a minute!" I yelled around him before lowering my voice to a hiss, "I'm not doing a damn thing you tell me to."

"Oh, you will." He growled in my ear, and through my anger, I couldn't help the small shudder that ran down my spine. "You wouldn't want anything happening to your new _friend, _now would you?" I froze as I felt the color drain from my face. He turned me around and shoved me through the doorway towards the front door, and I stumbled, catching myself on the doorframe sharply before I fell on my face. I turned in time to see him disappear through the back door in the kitchen.


	16. Chapter 15

I stared at the closed back door, the frown on my face deepening in thought. Why would the Joker waste time here making sure I went to that fundraiser? Just the thought of that man thinking he still had any power over me was infuriating. He must have involved me in whatever plans he had for the fundraiser, but why risk involving me after—?

More obnoxious knocking interrupted my train of thought, and I jumped, having forgotten someone was at the door.

I stood on the balls of my feet to look through the peep hole before I opened the door to see Cat's irritated face. "Took you long enough. What—"

"Joker just left." I said, cutting her off.

She quieted, studying my face as I paced in front of the coffee table. "I take it he didn't stop by for a friendly visit?"

I nearly snorted. "Of course not. He wanted me to go to a fundraiser Bruce Wayne is having for some guy."

She raised a neatly trimmed brow. "And why would he want you to do that?"

I sighed, pausing in my pacing to plop onto the couch. "Hell if I know."

"Well…" she said, the look on her face making me scoot away warily as she sat down next to me on the couch. "How do you plan on getting in? It _is_ invite only, you know."

"Are you invited?" I asked, avoiding the question.

"Actually, yes. But I wasn't planning on going."

"Oh." I stood from the couch and made my way into the kitchen, reaching into the fridge for some water. I heard Selina follow me into the kitchen. She leaned against the counter next to the fridge.

"You know Bruce, don't you?" she accused slyly. "That's why you weren't here earlier."

I crossed an arm across my chest defensively, taking a sip of water before replying, "Yes."

"Then getting in won't be a problem, right?"

"I'm not going." I said stiffly, my thoughts wandering back to what had occurred less than an hour ago. I mentally cringed and turned away from Selina, who was giving me an odd look.

"Why not? Did something happen…?" I turned back to stare at her again, and, judging by the look on her face, I could have sworn that she knew that something _did_ happen – that I had reacted like a ditz when Bruce kissed me and that I had no idea how I would deal with the embarrassment of reacting like some cliché, crush-stricken schoolgirl when I wasn't even sure if I liked the guy—

"Nothing happened." I cut off my mental almost-breakdown and sat in one of the chairs tucked under the square kitchen table.

She lifted herself gracefully onto the counter across from me and folded her hands neatly in her lap as her legs swung back and forth in lazy yet graceful arcs. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought she'd dropped the topic, but as it was, I had no such luck. "Then there's no reason for you to not go, right?" she inquired in a mock innocent tone that made me want to throw my water bottle at her head.

I glared at her stubbornly. "I don't want to; that's as good of a reason as any."

A sly smirk twitched on her lips, and I grounded my teeth in irritation. "It could be fun, Jade. When was the last time you went out?" At the look on my face, she interrupted my answer, "And I mean 'out' as in 'going out to a party' out."

I closed my mouth, my lips pursed. Selina's smirk grew. "Exactly. So there's—"

"I'm not going, Selina." I cut her off.

She slid off of the counter and crossed the small space to the other side of the table, laying her palms flat on the table to lean closer and invade my personal space. I scowled at the spreading smirk on her face. "You don't want to go because of Bruce." She stated. I kept my face straight, staring at the nearly full bottle of water clenched so tightly in my hands that my knuckles were turning white and I hope that's not a bend I see forming. I forcefully unwound the tight limbs from around the crinkling, weak plastic and folded them in my lap.

"It doesn't matter why I don't want to go. I'm not going." I said evenly.

She stared at me for a long moment, her expression blank except for the contemplative glint to her eye. Then she just gave a nonchalant shrug. "Alright, then. Fine. But you're still not getting out of training today."

I blinked, thrown off at the sudden change in subject before I sputtered, "B-but you never specified that we would do it today, and I still haven't slept in over 24 hours so I wouldn't be very productive today!" I shouted after her as she left the room, "Where are you even going?"

She ignored me and reappeared a few moments later with my jacket in hand. "Well, that's too bad. Sometimes you have to work even while sleep deprived." she said with mock-pity as she tossed my jacket to me.

I scoffed. "Where? In my line of work, you just take a day off and sleep for 12 hours."

She gave me a sly grin, her eyes glinting mischievously before she turned towards the window. "That's nice, but we're not in your line of work anymore, Jade. Now let's go." And with those final words, she unlocked the back door and disappeared through the night.

* * *

Training with Cat didn't last nearly as long as I thought it would, considering how big of a deal she'd made it out to be earlier. Surprisingly, she didn't mention Bruce's fundraiser again, which also made me wary of any other subtle ways she might've been planning on bringing the topic back up again. I was pretty much on my guard all day. So much so, in fact, that when I dragged my aching limbs back into my apartment later that day, I wasn't even surprised to see Joker lounging on my couch, my laptop balanced carelessly on his stomach as he watched whatever was on the screen intently with his arms folded loosely behind his head.

My lips tightened as I fought to keep a scowl off of my face, and I crossed the room quickly to snatch my computer back from him before he let it fall to the floor and break out of spite or something. "What the hell are you doing here? As if it weren't enough _threatening_ me—" I began my curse-filled rant as I turned to place my computer on the coffee table before I was yanked backwards by the end of my shirt and landed halfway on his abdomen, and halfway hanging off of the couch. The only thing that kept me from sliding off of it completely was Joker's leather-clad hand wrapped around my throat, tight and completely blocking my airway. My hands instantly latched onto his, prying fruitlessly at it as I struggled to try to get air into my lungs.

His face appeared over mine as he curled his upper body upwards to hunch over me, and he lowered his white-painted forehead to mine, his other gloved hand stroking my cheek in what would be a caress if it didn't fee; like he was trying to rub off a layer of skin there. "Now, sweetheart, I'm, uh, pretty _sure_ we went over this, but, ah, you _will_ watch your tone when speaking to me." He growled, his hot breath washing over my face and filling my nose with the scent of slightly burned coffee. "Understand?" he asked with a raise of one black-painted eyebrow, and I gave a single, jerky nod as I ground my teeth and tried to force back the lightheadedness and hoped to whatever god was listening that he would let me go before I passed out.

"Good." With a slight tap to my cheek, he let go of me, and I slid off of the couch completely, my tailbone protesting in pain as it collided harshly with the unforgiving floorboards. My hands cradled my throat and I hunched over my curled up legs, fighting the urge to cough as I greedily sucked in air and tears built in my eyes. Instead, I focused on getting away from the madman behind me, choosing to crawl around the coffee table and pull myself up to my knees.

I staggered into my kitchen, wrenching open the refrigerator door to grab another water bottle. I closed the door and leaned against it heavily, taking large gulps from the bottle to try to ease the burn from my throat, which didn't work all that well. I stared blankly at the dirty tiles beneath my feet, letting my mind avoid the problem sitting in my living room by noting vaguely that I needed to clean more often because I knew if I did address it I wouldn't make it through in one piece. I fought down the wave of dark emotions that tried to force their way up through my knotted stomach and onto the same dirty floor I was distracting myself with—

Oh God, this wasn't working.

My eyes darted around the small kitchen, looking for another distraction, an escape—

They landed on the back door before darting back to the doorway leading back to that man before returning to the door, and as I strode towards it I prayed that he wouldn't try to follow me, but a gloved hand came between me and my escape and killed that prayer before it was even complete. I backed away from the exit, and kept backing away, my eyes going back to that same dirty floor before my back hit the sharp corner of the counter. I didn't lift my eyes when Joker turned to stare at me, nor did I lift them when he approached me. The silence stretched on, awkwardly, and I found myself fidgeting with the bottle in my hand, twisting and un-twisting the cap until I blurted, "Why haven't you killed me yet?"

For a while he didn't answer me, and I was about to repeat myself when he laughed suddenly, loud and uncontrolled. He bent over in his laughter, grabbing my arm with one hand and using the other to slap his knee as he continued to cackle. Finally, he paused in his laughter long enough to rasp out, "Kill you? No, that wouldn't be any fun."

My jaw clenched and I snatched my arm away from his grip as I struggled to see straight in my renewed fury. "Fun? You think this is a joke? James is dead because of this bullshit! I— he—" unable to continue with distinguished words, an animalistic screech tore its way from my throat as I threw myself at him, at the bastard who ruined my life.

His laughter only seemed to grow wilder as he dodged my attack and dealt some of his own. I'd somehow tackled him to the ground, but he threw me off of him and pinned me down as I screamed at him and clawed at his arms, my anger building when I couldn't deal much damage, wanting to kill this man in front of me so badly that not being able to just fueled my rage. "Why? Why did you choose to ruin my life? Why did you kill the only person I had left?"

Slowly, my assault grew weak as a wave of exhaustion flooded my veins. I noticed that there were a thick trail of tears running down my cheeks, and a deep, painful sadness threatened to fill my lungs and drown me within my own body. I closed my eyes, hating how exposed I felt in front of Joker, in front of the man I hated most, and a shudder wracked my body as I let my arms fall limp beside me.

Joker's laughter had died off sometime during my tantrum, but when he spoke, he had an unexplainable, almost joyful tone in his voice, "I, uh, don't think you understand." The air shifted around us as he bents over me, and I noticed a bit too late that he was straddling me. "You. Are _**mine**_. No _one_, no_thing_ will take you away from me." His breath ghosted over my ear as he growled.

I jerked away from him, my eyes opening to stare at him in incredulity. "Yours? You do _not_ own me! And that is not even _close_ to an excuse for killing James!" I yelled, shoving at him to get him off of me so I could get as far away from this madman as possible. "If you can't see that then you're just delusional and crazy!"

My struggling was halted as I was grabbed by my throat for the second time that day, and a sharp pain bloomed through the back of my head as Joker slammed it into the hard floor beneath me. I fought to see straight. There was a flash of silver, and a knife was shoved into my field of vision. "**What** did I—" he started, but I yelled over him,

"I don't care what you said! If you have such a problem with it then kill me! Just do it already!"

He fisted his hand in my hair, the limb shaking with restraint. His stare was dark, and I matched it, challenging him with my own. "Do it." I hissed.

I grabbed the hand he was holding the knife with and pressed the blade to my throat. His expression blanked, hiss dark eyes grave as they searched my own. Then, he laughed. Again. He sat back in his laughter, and I noticed, again, that he was still straddling me. I scowled and struggled to get out from underneath his crushing weight. "What's so funny?" I grunted, my scowl deepening when I wasn't able to budge and had to settle back onto the floor.

It was a moment before he got his cackling under control, and when he did, he slouched over again to grab ahold of my hair, wounding its curls through his fingers thoughtlessly before he spoke, "_This_ is why I chose you. You, uh, have _some_thing, uh, interesting, and I've gotta admit: it caught my eye." He grinned widely as he spoke, and if I wasn't mistaken, I swore I saw something akin to… pride shine through his grin.

I huffed, my scowl deepening as I crossed my arms. "That doesn't really explain much, and it definitely isn't any excuse for killing my brother." I ground out between clenched teeth.

"Brother?" Joker parroted, and an eyebrow quirked in response. "Oh, now _that's,_ uh, interesting." He sat back again in thought, and I took his distraction as a chance to escape by wiggling out from under him. i scooted backwards until I could reach the counter, and i rested my back against it.

"But," the Joker continued as if nothing had happened, "He _did_ break the rules, and, uh, I'm not responsible for what happens when you break the rules." He smiled then, wide and ugly, and I wrapped my arms around my knees, suddenly feeling very small.

"But haven't I broken these "rules"?" I pushed, making air-quotes around the word with my fingers.

His smile dropped, a more serious, darker look crossing his face. He slinked closer to me, and the movement of his limbs reminded me of a monster stalking its victim. I rewrapped my arms around my legs, shrinking into the cabinets behind me as best as I could as Joker got closer to me. He stopped when he was looming over me, and lowered his head near mine to whisper, "Yeah. Ya did. HA! Hahaha!" he burst into another bout of laughter, rolling to the side so that he sat against the counter beside me.

I huffed, crossing my arms as I hoped my slight embarrassment wasn't being broadcasted across my cheeks. "Yeah, well, then there's no point to them if just anybody can break these dumb rules…" I grumbled.

"Not 'just anyone'." He said, mocking my tone, his grin stretching wider across his face. "Ya know, when you're trying to hide your blush, you hide behind your hair. Hate to be the one that break it to you, but, uh, that doesn't really work—"

"But," I interrupted him loudly, trying in near-desperation to avoid the direction the conversation was going in, "You killed James because of the rules, so why—"

"Jamie-boy threatened what was mine, and, uh, _I didn't like that_." His voice came out in a hiss, and his tone implied that the conversation was over.

I felt my anger rise, and tears of frustration built up in my eyes. I wanted to hit him again, but the adrenaline rush was gone, and I was left feeling empty and drained. "I told you, you don't own me." I hated how my voice sounded almost like I was pleading, so I cleared my throat and tried again, "You can't—" Joker heaved a big, dramatic sigh, interrupting me again.

He turned towards me, then, and grabbed my face between his thumb and fingers, squishing my cheeks together so that my words became indistinguishable. "Shshshsh." He said, petting my hair again. "It's too _late_ to change your mind now."

"Change my mind?" I frowned again, this time in confusion. "I never gave you—"

"Shshshsh…" he repeated, covering my mouth again as he pulled me into his side, his other hand coming up to pet my hair. "Conversation for another time, doll face." He said, as if I weren't going to continue to pursue the topic.

Fortunately for him, my phone chose that moment to ring, and it took me a moment to realize that it was still in my pocket. I took it out and, upon seeing who it was, moved to put it back in my pocket, but Joker snatched it out of my hand before I could do so and peered at the screen. "You're, uh, _going_ to that fundraiser." He growled in my ear threateningly before he put the device to my ear.

"Hello?" I said hesitantly, wanting badly to not have the conversation I knew was coming now while Joker was looming over my shoulder, listening to my conversation.

"Alex?" Bruce answered, "Hi, I'm sorry to bother you after this morning—"

"It's fine, it's fine!" I interrupted before he said anything embarrassing, mentally wincing at how high-pitched my voice was. "Did you need something? I can't really talk for long…" I threw a sour glance at Joker, who grinned as if he were silently laughing at a secret no one else knew about.

I moved to scoot away from him, but he held me in place, pulling his blade from his pocket as his face darkened, and he slowly shook his head. "Alex?" Bruce said, and I realized he must have said something.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that? I'm kind of busy right now…" I said awkwardly.

"I won't keep you long." He said, "I was just going over the guest list for my fundraiser, and I was wondering if you were coming. I know I only just asked you this morning…" Joker moved his knife to my side, threatening to gut me like a fish, and I glanced at him again.

"_Tell him you're going_." He mouthed.

"Alex?" Bruce said again, and I realized I had tuned out again.

"Sorry! Yeah, I'll be there." I said, mentally sighing in relief when the sharp object was removed from my side.

"Great." he said, sounding relieved.

Not much longer later, I made an excuse to get off of the phone. It was extremely awkward, or at least it was in my end, particularly due to Joker breathing down my neck as he listened in on my conversation, and partially due to the metaphorical elephant in the room because of what had happened this morning. I could tell Bruce wanted to bring it up, so I hurried to make an excuse to get off of the phone before he did.

When I hung up, I turned off my phone and replaced it in my pocket, glaring at Joker. I got off of the floor, stumbling as I went into the living room. I could hear Joker following behind me. I plopped down onto the couch and stretched my sore limbs across its length, watching Joker as he moved about the room. He grabbed the jacket that must have gone over the vest to the somewhat gaudy suit he was wearing and put it on over the vest.

I raised my eyebrow when I saw him turn towards the door. "You're leaving?" I asked hesitantly, almost afraid he would change his mind.

"Well, I've finished what I came here for, so, uh, _yeah_." he said sardonically. "I _do_ have other things to do, Jade." He said, his tone sounding almost as if he were scolding a child. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Yeah, that's believable, especially considering how much you like to stalk me." I muttered under my breath as he closed the door behind himself.

* * *

The next few days leading up to the fundraiser were uneventful, and I didn't hear from Bruce again. I filled the time with making up assignments that I'd fallen behind on, and I'd even trained with Cat a few more times. The night before, however, was the most interesting.

I'd come home from another training session with Cat, sore and irritated as hell, to find my front door unlocked. I'd stood there for a moment, debating on whether I wanted to take my chance and enter or not. I'd decided on going around to the back of the building and entering through the window in my kitchen. I crept silently across the tile floor to a drawer near the refrigerator and pulled out a knife. My gut was telling me that this was Joker-related, so I figured if it were him, he'd be able to dodge me or something. I couldn't say the same for if it were one of his henchmen.

Now, I know you might be thinking that I was overreacting, but I'd been in a bad mood since Joker had visited a few days ago, so I think my actions were completely rational. In my defense, I didn't know what to expect from the madman. He could have been testing me to see if I was going to bail out of going to the fundraiser at the last opportunity.

So when I killed a henchman by accident, I believed I was completely justified, seeing as he was breaking and entering and he had been sent by a madman like Joker. Yes, I told myself, I was completely justified. And this sudden accident had nothing to do with my leftover rage with Joker.

_Yeah_, the voice in the back of my head returned for the first time in weeks to pipe in, _you're not losing your shit at all. Ha!_

I ignored the voice's manic laughing while I cleaned the blood of the henchman off of my knife, feeling a bit less irritated than I did when I came home.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, I know I've been MIA for the last four months, but I've had almost no motivation for this thing until recently. Then, when I did get excited about it again, school was all like, Nah, you can't do this now. But I did it anyway, cause I'm such a rebel. Hope you enjoyed, and review/pm me if anything needs clarification (I have a feeling the end of this chapter will raise some questions).**


	17. Chapter 16

Apparently, the henchman hadn't been sent for some weird, crazy test of my loyalty. Joker had (apparently) sent the man to leave a box, and I had (unfortunately) caught him on his way out. I glanced warily at the plain-looking white box, sitting innocently on the edge of my bed, and I heaved a heavy sigh. I shoved it to the side and fell face forward on my bed, too tired to try to figure out what could be inside of it.

I woke up early the next morning for some odd reason. And I couldn't figure out why. I didn't have to use the bathroom, and there was no one else here to disrupt my sleep, so it seemed to be completely random.

With a groan, I gave up on trying to fall back asleep and got up, maneuvering through the still dark apartment to get to the kitchen. I made bacon and rice, and as I munched on my small breakfast, I remembered the events of last night. I stood, traveling back to my room to see what was in the box I had killed a man over. I picked it up from the place on the floor I must have kicked it to in my sleep, mildly surprised it hadn't spilled open in the fall.

I sat it on the edge of my bed before I lifted the lid off of it and moved the tissue paper aside to view its contents. "What the hell?" I muttered to myself as I stared unbelievingly at the contents of the box. I pulled at silky green fabric, and as it slid out of the box, a note tumbled to the floor.

_Wear this._

—_J_

It was a green dress, floor length and ridiculously fluid. An even deeper shade of green set of stones lined the top of it near the breast, getting sparser as they trailed down the midsection of it. I pulled it against my body, and the end of the fabric brushed the top of my bare feet, and I frowned. Where the heck had the Joker gotten _this_ from? Even better, _why_? I know I had plenty of dresses fancy enough to wear to Bruce's fundraiser, and if Joker was as nosy as I thought he was, he knew it too. So why go through the trouble of buying—or stealing, considering who we're talking about— a whole new, _unnecessary_ dress? A laugh bubbled up in my throat as I thought of a man like Joker in a fancy boutique, picking out a dress, of all things—

My almost laugh was cut short as I thought of the corpse I had yet to get rid of, still sitting in a plastic bag in my bathtub. I had killed a man over a _dress_? I was sure I should have felt regret, guilt, or something, but I just had the urge to laugh at the irony of it all.

I sat down on the edge of my bed, staring at the girl in the mirror on the closet door across from me. "What are you turning into?" I asked her.

* * *

I stared at my reflection in the same mirror I had stared into this morning as I applied the last of my makeup and slipped on my other shoe, a pair of plain dark green ballet flats I had chosen to wear over the dangerous-looking heels that had been in the box. The dress was long enough to cover them anyway, so they would only be seen as I walked. The dress was sleeveless and had an open back, and it fit snugly over my hips and waist. I wasn't surprised that the dress fitted so well, though I did find it a bit creepy just how well it fit me, almost as if it were custom made or something. Actually, that made much more sense than Joker actually buying it, but I couldn't think of who would actually ma—

I froze, halting my train of thought as I heard the front door open. "Oh, _**Jade**_." A voice called out in a singsong tone, dragging out my name.

My shoulders sagged as the tension left my frame when I heard the voice. I walked out of my room and into the living room as I snarked, "So forcing me to go to this stupid thing wasn't enough? You had to come see—" I froze when I laid my eyes on the man standing in the middle of my living room. My mouth fell open and snapped closed a few times before I finally got out, "Joker?"

"Who, uh, who else would I be?" he said smiling sardonically as he walked towards me.

There was no face paint in sight, and even the scars seemed to have disappeared under the magic of makeup. A fedora sat atop his head, hiding the green strands from view, and he wore a plain-looking black suit with a simple green tie. "Don't you look, ah, _lovely_." He drawled as he drank in my appearance. His eyes swept back up to meet mine, a knowing glint flashing through them before he added, "I, uh, almost wasn't sure you got it considering that my little delivery boy never made it back."

I felt my face flush as I thought of the hours wasted digging, trying to hide the body. I dipped my head out of habit, trying to hide my face, then silently cursed the fact that I had decided to wear my hair pinned up.

I shrugged awkwardly, and then stepped around him to go to the door. "I don't know, it was here when I got here—"

Joker grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him, his nose nearly touching my own. "You, ah, you sure ya don't know anything about that?" He asked quietly, and it almost felt as though he had pried my skull open and was searching my memories as easily as flipping through a magazine, as if he _knew_ I was lying. Something about that gaze looked familiar, and I—

"Well?" he asked, and I snapped out of my stupor.

I snatched my arm away and twisted on my feet to open the door. "I said I don't know nothing." I said as I exited the building, not really caring at this point if he followed or stayed behind. Hell, I didn't even care if he locked the door behind him, which, now that I thought about it, he probably wouldn't..

The sound of his laughter followed me as I pushed through the front doors of the building, and, as I turned to glance over my shoulder, I noticed that the bastard had a smug grin stretched across his lips; I realized that he hadn't really cared whether or not I had gotten rid of his thug, though I still didn't know how he knew that I had. The thought that he had just been toying with me to get a reaction out of me made me more upset than it should have, and I stormed away as he exited the building as well.

"Where are you going?" he asked from behind me, and I didn't bother stopping as I spat over my shoulder, "I don't care, as long as it's away from _you_."

I didn't hear him follow behind me, but he grabbed my arm and yanked me hard enough to nearly pull me completely off of my feet. It was enough of a distraction for him to drag me in the other direction, towards a plain black car that had been (apparently) waiting the entire time. "In case you forgot, you _kinda_ have somewhere to be right now." He said sarcastically as he opened the door and shoved me inside, scooting in after me.

"Really? I had completely forgotten!" I snapped back, rubbing the place on my arm where he'd grabbed me (and where I knew there would be a bruise forming later). "I just decided to put on fancy clothes for no reason and go for a stroll in the neighborhood."

Joker gave a short laugh, shaking his head mockingly at me. "I don't think that's very smart in this neighborhood."

I scowled, opening my mouth to reply, but he pressed a non-gloved finger to my lips. "Shshsh," he hushed me before rapping his knuckles on the divider that hid the driver from our sight, and the car lurched away from the sidewalk.

* * *

Getting in was a lot easier than I thought it would be. We just had to show our ID and the invitation I'd gotten from Bruce. When Joker was asked to show his, I wasn't all that surprised to see he actually had both an invitation and an ID. I was more curious about the ID, though.

"Lemme see." I demanded once we had gotten on the elevator and the doors slid closed.

I took it from his hand before he could answer or put it away out of my reach, though I'm sure he'd let me take it from him, if the amused tug at his lips was anything to go by. I ignored him and looked at the fake ID, choosing to study the picture first. He looked just as he did now, only without the fancy clothing. His hair was down, still in its stringy form, but instead of being green, the locks were an odd shade of brown. His expression was grim, not a grin in sight. Although, I'm sure it would have been a dead give away had he actually smiled or something. The information listed beside the picture listed the name as Jack Napier, and it said he was only a few years older than me.

I gave it back as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open again. "You look weird frowning." I commented.

"Oh, I know." Was all he said.

I frowned and turned to ask him what he meant, but the elevator was empty and Joker was no where to be seen in either direction of the hallway. "Really?" I asked the air where he'd been.

Just as I thought, socializing with all of those... people had been as excruciatingly painful as I thought, and I stuck to the edges of the crowd as much as I could. Bruce wasn't there when we arrived, and there was still no sign of Joker anywhere, which was both relieving and worrying at the same time.

I had somehow made my way around the large room when a heavy gust of wind blew through the room through the open balcony doors, followed by a deafening sound I couldn't identify. I stepped away from the doors and shielded my eyes from the wind, squinting against the bright light that shone through.

'What the hell?' I thought, but my mental question was answered when the source of the light swung around slowly and I could see what it was that landed on the balcony.

"A... helicopter?" People behind me whispered.

"Leave it to Bruce to make such a grand entrance." Someone else added sarcastically.

Sure enough, the door to the helicopter swung open and Bruce stepped out before helping two women out behind him. All three entered the room from the balcony, and I realized too late that I was too close when Bruce spotted me immediately.

"Alex," he greeted me, leaving the company of the two women with him to approach me. "Glad to see you made it." he said with a smile as he gave me a small hug.

I fought the urge to tense at the contact and forced a smile. "No problem." I said. "That was quite the entrance you made there." I said jokingly as we turned, walking towards the place I wanted to be the least: the center of the room where most of his guests had crowded.

"Oh, that was all for show." he waved his hand nonchalantly, and I noticed his arm around my waist, his touch light enough where I barely noticed it was there. "Come on, there's someone I want you to meet." he added.

Bruce led me over to a table where a man was sitting down, facing away from us, and he greeted the man, "Ronald! Nice to see you made it." the man turned around, and I nearly laughed at the irony of the situation.

The man was Ronald McHardey, one of my more frequent clients, and, ironically, the first to find out that I had relations-if that's what it's even called, I'm not sure at this point- with Bruce. He smiled at Bruce, "Bruce. You know I wouldn't have missed it." Ronald said and his gaze shifted to me.

"Well, who is this beautiful young lady?" he asked, and I could see the amusement in his expression.

"Alex Peyton." I introduced myself, extending my hand in greeting.

"Ronald McHardey." He returned the greeting.

Ronald and Bruce continued their small talk for a few minutes before Bruce decided to introduce me to a few more people; among them were Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent. Overall, none of the people he introduced me to were very interesting, except for the few of whom I already knew because of an odd job here and there I had done for them before. Things didn't get very interesting until I saw Ronald again while I was getting one of the fancy tiny sandwiches at the table of food.

He walked up beside me and got a glass, filling it with some sort of juice. "I didn't expect to see you here." he said as he took a sip.

I dipped my head in a lazy nod. "Same goes to you. Although, you already knew I know Wayne. How do you know him?" I raised my brow and took a bite out of the sandwich.

"My company does work with his... you know. Boring stuff." he shrugged.

"Ah." I made a noncommittal noise as I chewed on the last bits of the sandwich.

"You know, kid, I might need a favor soon." He said as he turned to look over the crowd.

"Well, that would be no problem. You know how to contact me when you're ready." I said. "Just use—"

"I didn't mean that type of favor, Alex." He interrupted, stepping closer to lean towards my ear. I jerked away on instinct and resisted the urge to use the knife hidden inside of my dress when I felt his hand graze my bottom near the opening of the back.

"I don't know where you got the idea that something like that would work with me, but I advise you to keep your requests to yourself." I hissed, gritting my teeth to keep from raising my voice.

Ronald scoffed. "So that Wayne boy gets to—"

"Bruce has nothing to do with anything. My private life is separate from my business."

"So he doesn't know." He said, a calculating look crossing his features.

"No." I said firmly. "And he won't find out."

* * *

I stepped closer to the balcony's railing and sighed, glad to be away from the obnoxious crowd. I pulled the pins out from my hair and tucked them into the small purse that hung lazily at my hip, feeling the wind comb through my hair's red curls as it fell out of the fancy-looking knot I had managed to roll it into at the base of my neck. I ran my fingers through the roots, rubbing my scalp slightly in hopes that it would get rid of the headache building behind my skull. I wondered briefly if whether it would be worth it to risk going back inside to grab a glass of whatever expensive-looking alcohol waiters had been carting around all night when I heard someone clear their throat behind me.

I turned, squinting as a small gust of wind blew a lock of hair into my eyes as I tried to see who had tried to get my attention. Once I had cleared my path of vision, I saw Bruce standing in the doorway, looking amused. "Care for company?" he asked with a smile, but I was sure I saw a hint of uncertainty in his gaze.

I gave a small smile and shrugged awkwardly. "Sure." I responded.

As he walked closer, I saw that he held two glasses in his hand, and when he was closer, he offered me one. I took it, smiling gratefully, and bumped shoulders with him lightly, "This is just on time." I said jokingly, taking a sip from its contents.

"Good thing I brought it, then." He replied, and, for a moment, we stood in silence, watching the dark city's busy movement tons of stories below on the streets before Bruce spoke up, "I see you let your hair down?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I was starting to get a headache." I clarified.

"Is it the crowd?" he guessed, gesturing with his head to the doorway behind him.

"Yeah." I repeated, scrunching my nose up as I glanced over my shoulder. "Not really my type of party, I guess." I paused, then, "Well, I don't really like parties in general." I shrugged a shoulder almost lazily, taking another sip from my glass.

Bruce's eyebrow dented, and I nearly laughed at the look of confusion written plainly on his face. "Well, why did you come?" he asked, and any hint of laughter in me disappeared.

"Eh… you asked me to." I said, scratching the back of my neck as I failed to come up with a better excuse.

'_Yeah, ok. We all know it's because clown-boy told you ya had to.'_ The voice in the back of my head snickered, and I inwardly scowled.

'_You don't have to say it like _that_.'_ I grouched back at it.

Bruce touched my arm, bringing my attention back to the present and away from my potential mental problem.

"You didn't have to. It would—" I cut him off, waving my hand nonchalantly.

"It was no problem. Really, I do enough of these things for work stuff, anyway." I said, shrugging again for the millionth time that night.

It was then that I noticed how close we were, and I glanced up at Bruce. He leaned closer, and I tried to step back, but my lower back smacked painfully into the railing as my mind screeched at me, _'No! We can't do this again! Do something!'_

I opened my mouth to say something, but the loud, piercing noise of gunshots cut me off, startling me enough to make me drop the half-empty glass in my hand. I mourned the loss of the remaining alcohol that was now pooled at my feet along with shards of the glass itself before I realized that the Joker must have made his reappearance. Bruce must have concluded that something was wrong as well (obviously) because he stepped around me to go back inside, tossing a brief, "stay here" over his shoulder as he re-entered the building and disappeared into the crowds within seconds.

I blinked, almost confused by his sudden disappearance before my mind registered what he had said. I scoffed aloud. "Stay here my ass." I mumbled to myself, lifting the ends of my dress to step over the sharp, messy remains of my glass and walked quietly to the doorway to peer inside.

As I had guessed, Joker was gathered near the main doorway with a bunch of rag-tag men wearing clown masks, and I wasn't all that surprised to see him in his normal get-up. 'Where'd he stash it though?' I asked myself, and then decided that it wouldn't matter and that I'd probably get to ask him myself sometime soon. I shook myself out of that train of thought and tried to listen to what he was saying.

I only caught bits and snippets, but apparently he was asking for Harvey Dent. He went from person to person, asking whether they had seen Dent or not, and most shrunk back in fear, shaking their heads silently. One particular brave soul, however, stood up to the clown, "We're not intimidated by thugs." He said loudly.

Joker grabbed the poor (albeit kind of stupid) guy and pulled him closer, his knife dangerously close to the guy's face as he said something else. I scrunched my nose up, debating whether or not I wanted to move closer to figure out what the heck he was saying, but then Rachel stepped forward, attracting Joker's attention to herself. He turned to her, saying something else— I decided to move closer at this point— but she jerked her knee into his midsection, and he hunched over and took a step back, laughing at his own pain.

"You've got a little fight in ya." He said. "I like that."

"Then you're gonna love me." A husky voice said, and out of nowhere, Batman appears and kicks Joker, knocking the knife out of his hand before engaging in a fight with Joker's henchmen.

This went on for a while, and I was beginning to to wonder where the heck the cops were when another gunshot rang throughout the room, and I looked back to Joker. Apparently, he had shot out a window and was holding Rachel hostage with a gun to her head.

"Drop the gun." Batman said.

"Sure." Joker drawled, "Just take off the mask and show us all who you are…" Rachel shook her head as best as she could in Joker's hold. When Batman didn't respond quick enough, Joker shifted his hold on her so that she was dangling out of the window.

"Let her go." Batman shouted.

Joker laughed, baring his teeth in what looked to be a snarl. "_Very_ poor choice of words." Then, Joker dropped Rachel out of the window, and Batman dove after her as she screamed.

I blinked, staring after the cape-clad man. _'Really?'_ I nearly said out loud, and from the look on the faces of the people standing around me, I could tell they thought something along the same lines. _'He leaves the rest of us for one woman?'_

Joker stared out of the window after Batman and Rachel before he turned his gaze to the sea of people looking expectantly at him.

Joker gave the cowering crowd a scrutinizing look, his teeth working at his scars. "Well," he said expectantly, "What are you, ah, waiting for?"

When no one replied, his stare darkened. "Scram." He growled.

And then there was chaos.

People shoved and pushed towards the small exit of the room as if fire nipped and snapped at their asses like a rabid dog. A larger man nearly knocked me down to beat me to the exit, and somehow, I ended up near the long table that sat off to the side of the room, and just as I got ready to shove my way through the crowd towards the exit, someone grabbed me by the upper arm. I turned to yell at whoever it was, but I nearly choked on my own spit in surprise.

"How did you—? Where did you come—?" I sputtered to form a full sentence, but the Joker, now in the same getup he wore when we first arrived: suit, fedora, and plain face (with the exception of the makeup hiding his scars).

He shushed my incoherent questions and took my arm again, herding me into the rest of the crowd. For some odd reason, the elevator wasn't working, and we had to take the stairs all the way down to the lobby. By the time that we got there, the cops were swarming the place, and Joker guided me out of the building and onto the sidewalk, where we walked down about two blocks to a spot where the car that had dropped us off was waiting. Once we got in, it screeched away from the curb and farther away from the ruined fundraiser.

* * *

**A/N: It's been...almost a half a year since I last updated. Funny thing is, the majority of that time, I've had about 90-95% of this done, I was just too lazy to re-write the last bit of this. Meh. I'll probably be writing more in the immediate future, depending on whether or not I have any motivation for this. We'll see. Hope you enjoyed; review and give me feedback, all that jazz. Later. **


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